4TH  CONGRESS,  )  SENATE.  c  DOCUMENT  137, 

1st  *SVxx/<m.         (  (  Part  1. 


REPORTS 


OF 


AGENTS,  OFFICERS,  AND  PERSONS,  ACTING  UNDER  THE  AUTHORITY 
OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY, 


IN  RELATION  TO  THE 


CONDITION  OF  SEAL  LIFE  ON  THE  EOOKERIES 
OF  THE  PRIBILOF  ISLANDS, 


AND  TO 


PELAGIC  SEALING  IN  BERING  SEA  AND  THE 
NOETH  PACIFIC  OCEAN, 


IN 


THE  YEARS  1893-1895. 


PART  I. 


/Part  II  (with  maps  and  illustrations)  contains  results  of  investigations  under 
the  direction  of  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Fish  and  Fisheries.] 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING  OFFICE. 
18  9  G. 


54TH  CONGRESS,  )  SENATE.  (  DOCUMENT  137, 


IstSexxion.        }  Parti. 

•      /jst4**s-  rfrl 

.j 

.RE  PORTS. 


OF 


AUKNTS.  OFFICERS,  AND  PERSONS,  ACTING  UNDER  THE  AUTHORITY 
OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY, 


IX   DELATION  TO  TJIK 


CONDITION.OF  SEAL  LIFE  ON  THE  ROOKERIES 
OF  THE  PRIBILOF  ISLANDS,  / 

'    / 


PELAGIC  SEALING  IN  BERING  SEA  AND  THE 
NORTH  PACIFIC  OCEAN, 


IN 


THE   YEARS   1893-1895. 


I3ST 

PAKT  I. 

[Part  II  (with  maps  and  illustrations)  contains  results  of  investigations  under 
the  direction  of  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Fish  and  Fisheries.] 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
1896. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Letter  from  Secretary  of  Treasury  transmitting  reports  to  Senate 3 

REPORT   OF  ASSISTANT   SECRETARY  HAMLIN. 

/ 

Report  of  Assistant  Secretary  C.  S.  Hamlin  on  Alaska 4 

1.  Fur  seal 5 

2.  Salmon  fisheries 

3.  Liquor 9 

4.  Fur-bearing  animals 9 

5.  Land  laws. 11 

Exhibit:  Letter  of  instructions 11 

j.  B.  CROWLEY'S  REPORT,  isw. 

Annual  report  for  1894  of  Joseph  B.  Crowley,  agent  in  charge  of  seal  islands.  12 

1.  Improvements  on  islands 12 

2.  Schools 13 

3.  Fuel 13 

4.  Foxes 14 

5.  Seals 14 

6.  Driving  of  seals 15 

7.  Specimen  for  Smithsonian  Institution 17 

8.  Guarding  rookeries. 17 

Exhibit  A.  Census  of  natives,  St.  Paul  Island 18 

B.  Census  of  natives,  St.  George  Island 20 

C.  Report  of  St.  Paul  School ... 21 

D.  Annual  statement  of  seals  killed,  St.  Paul  Island. 24 

E.  Annual  statement  of  seals  killed,  St.  George  Island ....  26 

F.  Receipts  for  skins  shipped 27 

G.  Division  money,  St.  George  Island,  1894. 27 

H.  Division  money,  St.  Paul  Island,  1894. 28 

j.  B.  CROWLEY'S  REPORT.  1895. 

Annual  report  for  1 895  of  Joseph  B.  Crowley,  agent  in  charge  of  seal  islands . .  30 

1 .  Natives 30 

2.  Expenditures 30 

3.  Coal. 31 

4.  Furniture  for  Government  houses 31 

5.  Blue  foxes. 31 

6.  Marine  guard 32 

7.  Specimen  seals 32 

8.  Killing  of  seals 33 

9.  No  difficulty  to  get  quota 34 

10.  New  killing  grounds .„ 34 

11.  Overdriving 34 

12.  Pelagic  sealing 35 

13.  Excess  of  male  life. 35 

14.  Dead  pups 36-37 

Exhibit  A 37 

Census  of  St.  Paul 37 

Census  of  St.  George 41 

Physician's  report 42 

i 


II  CONTENTS. 

Report  for  1895  of  J.  B.  Crowley— Continued.  Page. 

Exhibit  B 43 

Seals  killed  on  St.  Paul,  1895.. 43 

Seals  killed  on  St,  George,  1895 44 

Exhibit  C.  Receipts  for  skins  shipped 44 

D.  Distribution  community  fund 45 

JOSEPH  MURRAY'S  REPORT  ON  SEALS,  1894. 

Report  for  1894,  on  seal  life,  of  Special  Agent  Joseph  Murray 47 

1.  Climate 48 

2.  Seals,  habits,  etc 49 

3.  Driving  and  killing 52 

4.  Dead  pups 55, 67 

5.  Decrease  of  seals,  lack  of  male  life  not  the  cause 62 

6.  Deposition  of  chief  of  Commander  Islands 80 

7.  Circular  letter,  Dr.  C.  H.  Merriam 

8.  Replies  to  letter  of  Dr.  Merriam_ 86 

9.  Retrospective  and  explanatory 

10.  Pelagic  sealing  and  diplomacy 103 

11.  Pelagic  sealing,  close  season,  etc 116 

APPENDIX  TO  MURRAY'S  REPORT  FOR  is»4. 
Subjects: 

Pelagic  sealing . . 127, 180 

Habits  and  management  of  seals  and  pelagic  sealing. 131 

Habits  and  management  of  seals  and  rules  of  fur  companies 136 

Pribilof  rookeries 141 

Management  of  killing  and  pelagic  sealing. 143 

Management  on  islands — pelagic  sealing _ . .       145 

Pelagic  sealing,  Pribilof  rookeries 151 

Dead  pups 162 

Destruction  of  female  seals 175, 181. 243, 263, 267, 291 

General  seal-skin  industry 180, 185, 209 

Cruise  of  the  Louis  Olsen  in  Bering  Sea,  by  A.  B.  Alexander .. 196 

Decrease  of  seals 217, 248, 270, 277. 283, 338 

Cause  of  decrease  in  seal  herd 344 

Increase  of  sealing  fleet 275 

Tables  of  seals  killed  on  rookeries 301 

Past  and  future  of  fur  seal,  by  Joseph  Stanley-Brown 320 

Award  of  Tribunal  of  Arbitration 330 

Letter  transmitting  Elliott's  report  to  State  Department ._      346 

Mr.  Phelps's  argument  before  Tribunal 347 

Index  to  Depositions. 

Index  of  names  of  persons  whose  depositions,  etc.,  in  whole  or  in  part,  are 
cited  in  the  appendix  to  Murray's  report  for  1894: 

Abbey,  C.  A..  250,283 

Ackerly.J.C.S 163 

Adams.  George.... 218,251,263 

Adair  .    250,260,263,291 

Akatoo..  283,291 

Alexander.  A.  B..     196,218,260,283 

Alexandroff,  J 277 

Allen,  Dr 218.258 

Allis,  W.  C-... 225 

American  Commissioners 217, 225, 239, 275 

Anderson.  A 267,270 

Anderson,  C.  H : 225 

Anderson,  C.  T 

Anderson,  Peter 248 

Andrieus,  H.. 248,283 

Apokshee,  N-. 

Armstroiig,  James. —      218 

Armstrong,  John 224,225 

Artomanoff .  Kerrick  _ .  145, 219, 226 


CONTENTS.  Ill 

Index  of  names  of  persons,  etc.— Continued.  Page. 

Averv,  Charles  .. 260,283,291 

Ayonkee,  Adam 251,277,283,291 

Baden-Powell,  Sir  George 209 

Ball. George.. 268,270,291 

Barnes.  M..  127 

Baronovitch,  J  .  226,260,283,291 

Bates.  Maurice 251,277,283 

Behlow,  Charles  J 244 

Bendt,  William 263 

Bennett,  W.C 251,268,277,284 

Benson,  E . .  251 , 268, 277, 284 

Benson,  M 246,251,284,291 

Benson,  William. 263 

Bevington.H.S.... ..., 182,185 

Bliediier.  Bernhard..  .  248,284,291 

Boude,  Neil 210,251,263 

Bondters 289 

Bowa-chup  258,277,291 

Bradley,  J.  A !...       .     .     248,270,284 

Bradley,  T 264,284,291 

Bremian,  William 271,284 

Brown.  Henry  .  .       246,284 

Brown,  Peter 258,260,264,277,283,284 

Brown,  Thomas .   248.251,291 

Bryant,  Charles ..       236 

Buterin.  K .  216,220 

Buynitsky,  S.  N  236 

Callapo,  L 284,291 

Campbell,  Charles 260,264,284 

Canetak.  I 277 

Cantwell,  J.  C .  227, 291 

Carthcut,  J.  L 246,271 

Cathcut.  Captain ......  .  216 

Chalall .  Charles 251 , 264, 291 

Charlie 277,292 

Chickanoff .  V 278, 284 

Chin-koo-tin,  S 247,  278, 284 

Christiansen,  J 251,284,292 

Church,  Peter. 247.251,271,285,292 

Circus  Jim 278, 292 

Claplanhoo.  James .  258, 278, 285 

Clark,  H.N .  227,239 

Clark,  William 251, 278. 292 

Clausen,  C 210, 216, 292 

Clausen.  D .  268, 271 

Clement,  John  C 251 , 271 . 285 

Cohen,  M .   ..         248,285 

Collins,  P 248, 285, 292 

Coulson.W.  C 151,215,227,260 

Cox.  Leander 227, 236, 248, 268, 271 

Culler,  Louis 252, 264 

Dahtlin,  Charles 260, 285, 292 

Dalgarduo.  James .  248, 260, 292 

Dalton .  J  _ . 264, 292 

Dardean.  A 211, 285, 292 

Dardean.  J ...       259 

Davis.  Frank .  259.264.292 

Davis.  Jeff , 278 

Dennis.  J 293 

Dick.  Hooniah _  _ 261 

Dishow,  George „  216, 285. 293 

Dohrn.  John 252 

Dolan.  Richard .  -J.V2. 293 

Douglas.  J.  H 220,228.246,247,264 

Duffy,  P 239, 264, 285 

Duncan,  William ...         .  260.271.293 

Erhon..  285 


IV  CONTENTS. 

Index  of  names  of  persons,  etc. — Continued.  Page. 

Ellabush 259.  278 

Elliott.  H.  W 1 04 

Erskine,  M.  C 228,  249.  208.  271 .  28.1 

Eshon .  27S 

Fairchild ,  George 2 1 7 .  252, 293 

Falconer,  S. 236, 239 

Feeny,  F.  F 249,  26*.  271 .  285, 293 

Feodbr ,  V 278 

Fogal,  George 260,268,271 

Foster,  Charles 346 

Foster,  William 271 

Fowler,  C.  L 228 

F  r  an  k 252,278 

Frank,  Chief 260.  278, 293 

Frank,  Luke 268. 279, 293 

Franklin,  L.  F 268,  272.  29:5 

Fraser,A. 182,188,193 

Fratis,  John 240 

Frazer,  Thomas •_ 268, 272.  2*5 

Frazer,  William 252.  2S5 

Funcke,  Ed.  W 252,  2lis,  272,  293 

Fyfe,John 264 

George,  Chad. .  200.  279.  285, 293 

Gibson,  C 285 

Gibson.  Charles 279 

Gibson,  Th 264 

Gibson,  Thomas..  2-19,293 

Glidden.  H.  A..  225,240 

Goff,C.J.  141,220.229 

Gonastut 249.  279.  286 

Gondowen.  James. . 249,  279, 286, 293 

Gould  A.  J 272,286 

Gr ady ,  George  268 

Greenleaf ,  E.  M  . .  .  210, 252, 260, 294 

Gregoroff,N_.__  279,286 

Griffin,A__ 210,294 

Griffin.  J..  286 

Griffith,  W.  P -.        200,268 

Grymes,  A 294 

Gry mes,  James . 249 

Grymes,  Joseph..  240 

Guild,  A.  J..  294 

Haldane,  H..  252,269.279,286 

Hannon,  M  252.286,294 

Hansson,  A..  230 

Harmsen,  H.. 252,272,294 

Harrison,  J. 211,249,286 

Hayikahtla,S._  294 

Hays,J.M__  272,294 

Hayward,  J  211,272 

Healy,  M.  A  215,  220, 249. 264,  286 

Heilbronner.  M 

Henriques,  J.  A . .  276 

Henson.  William  .  269,294 

Hentz,  E..  182 

Hereford,  W.S  ....  - 220,  230,276 

Hermann,  W . .  286 

Hodgson,  N. .  217.  265,  28«.  294 

Hoffman,  A.  J  -  253.272,294 

Hofsted,E_.  -  247.272,294 

Hogman,  C.  H..  - 269,294 

Hogue.  C.J..  ---- 230,272 

Holm,0__  ---- 253,286 

Hooper,C.L -   128,17:;. -M :! 

Hothara,  Rear- Admiral 209 

Hughes,  E.. 

Irving,  Alfred 25:5.  201 .  205.  279, 295 


CONTENTS.  V 

Tiidt-x  of  names  of  persons,  etc. — Continued.  Page. 

Isaac,  William... 269 

Isaacson.  GL  .     ...- 269,272,295 

Ishka ---       279 

Jacobson,  V 212,295 

Jamieson,  J 295 

Johnson,  Frank 

Johnson,  J.. 211,253,286.295 

Johnson,  Jack 279,295 

Johnson,  Selwish 259,286 

Johntin.J.. .- 253,279,286,295 

Kahiktday,P 247,253,279,295 

Kashevaroff,  P 279,287,295 

Kashwa 253,280,287 

Kasooh,  J... 253,280,295 

Kean,  James 265,295 

Kennedy,  James 253, 265.  '.".M 

Kethusduck.  M 253,280,296 

Kiernan,  J .  1  214, 249, 253, 265, 269, 273, 296 

King-Hall,  F.  R 254,265.273,287 

Kinkooga 280, 287 

Klananeck,  C 261 , 280, 287 

Klonacket,  James 249,280 

Kohooroff.S 279 

Kooko,  R 254,280,287 

Kotchootten,  J 231 

Kowineet,  J_.  247.287.296 

Krebs,  C.  F.  E  ..  237 

Krukoff,  N  231 

Kushen,  A 220, 231 , 241 , 276 

Kvam,  Olaf 296 

Lacheek,G- 247,280,287,296 

Lacheek,  J... 257 

Laing,  A 265 

Lampson  &  Co .         .       184 

Lavender,  A.  W 246 

Lawson.  E.  N .  265, 287 

Lenard,  L.  M....  241 

Lennan.  J.  E__.; 254,265.273,287.296 

Liebes,  G- 247,249 

Liebes,  H 177.276 

Liebes.  I .  177,220.249.287 

Liebes,  S 177 

Lighthouse,  J 259.280,296 

Lindahl,  C . 273,287.296 

Loflin,  J 261,296 

Littlejohn ,  E.  W 273, 287, 296 

Long,  W.  H 247,254,273,296 

Loud.  A.  P 143,221,231.246,249,265 

Lowe,Thomas._ 280.296 

Lntjens,  Charles 254. 273. 296 

McAlpine,  G 254, 288, 297 

McClennen,  Charles  E... ..  177 

McDonald,  J.  D 254,273,288,297 

Mclntyre,  H.  H 129,221,231,238,241,276,344,346 

Mclsaac, William. 254,273,286,297 

McKean,   James 254,273,288 

McLane,  D 214 

McLaughlin,  William '255. 273, 297 

McLean,  A 265,269,274 

McLean,  D 255,274,297 

McManus,  R.  H 212 

Madden.  Thomas .  255,297 

Maitland,  Edw .  255,  28.S 

Malowansky ,  J 22i , 232, 241 , 249, 259, 28g 

Maloy ,  J 274, 297 

Mandregin,  N 232 

Maroney,  Pat o.V).  25!».  266, 297 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Index  of  names  of  persons,  etc. — Continued.  Page. 

Martin,  Charles 255,280,297 

Martin,  W.  E 182 

Mason,  Fred ..  269,288 

Mason,  H 255,288,297 

Mathason,  T 288,297 

Melovedoff,  A 177,222,232,233,238,242,247 

Melovidov,  S. 233,238,280 

Mill,  Amos .255.298 

Miner,  E 255 

Miner,  G.  E 274,288 

Moreau.  Frank 255,261,269,274,288,297 

Morgan.  T.  F 153, 233, 238, 242, 246, 247, 25(5.  274 

Morris.  John 256,298 

Morris,  M 280,288 

Morton,  J.  M 222 

Moses 256,266,281,298 

Moss,  M 211,256.261 

Moulton,  J.  H. 225, 242 

Mowatt,  Thomas 210 

Murray.  Joseph 175,222,234 

Nashtau 249.281,288,298 

Natch.  S '....   256,281 

Nathlan.Dan 256,281,288,298 

Nechantake  . .        281 

Neeshkaith,  J .  281,288,298 

Nelson,  N..  250,266,269,274,288,298 

Nettleton,  S.  R 234,242 

Newman,  A         222 

Niebaum,  G--  223,225,238,242 

Noyes.  L.  A..  131,223,234,261 

Nikla-ah  ....  ..       ..     281 

O'Brien,  John.. 256,298 

Oliver,  N.  T 256,274,288,298 

Olsen,  John 256,266,269 

Olsen,  Peter..  281 

Osly  ..  .  250,261,288 

Otis.  H.  G  242 

Parker.  William  250,266,276,298 

Peterson,  Charles 212,266,270,289,298 

Phelan.  John  J 245 

Poland.  H..  183 

Porter,  E.  P. .  212, 266, 274, 298 

Porter,  W 299 

Ray.  William  P.. .  172 

Redpath,  J.  C 136,215,223,234,242,266,276 

Rice,  George 183 

Roberts,  W 247,256,266,289 

Rondtus..  299 

Rvan,A  .  250,281,289,299 

Ryan.  T.  F  .  -  243,267 

Sayers.A..  ....  261,274 

Scfibner,  B.  F 225,243 

Shepard.  L.  G.  213,246,256,289 

Short,  William..  -  256,299 

Shucky,  Jack.. 256,281,289 

Shultka,  G . .  -  282, 289, 299 

Shyha,  A..  281 

Simes,  Peter  .  250, 299 

Simson,  A._  ._.. 299 

Singay,  M.. 257,281 

Sitka.  Jack  .  ...  257,281,289.299 

Skowl,  Thomas. .  -  257, 281, 289, 299 

Sloan,  James..  267.274,299 

Sloss,  Leon 223,235,239,299 

Smith,  Fred..  267,289,299 

Smith,  J.  W.. 261,289 

Smith,  William  H..  257 


CONTENTS.  VII 

Index  of  names  of  persons,  etc. — Continued.  Page. 

Soron,  E.  W .. :.  289,299 

Soowoosch 270 

Stamp,  W.  C.  B 183 

Stanley-Brown,  J 157, 219, 224, 226, 236, 239 

Stephens,  Cyrus 257,274,299 

Sternfels,  R.  H. .. 177 

Stickland,  Joshua 257,267,289,300 

Sundvall,  G 275 

Swain,  J.  A _  _  250, 300 

Swan,  James  G 155 

Tanner,  Captain _ 217 

Tanner,  Z.  L .  235, 247 

Taylor,  W.  B 223,243 

Teichuiann,  E 184,248 

Temple,  G.  H . . .  239 

Thomas,  W .  257,275,289 

Thompson ,  A.  W 250 

Thlkahdaynahkee,  M 248, 282, 289, 300 

Tlaksatan ,  C 250, 282, 289, 300 

Tolman,  J.  C 223,257,270,289 

Treadwell,  G.  H 178 

Trearsheit,  P 290 

Tuttle.  F "235,270 

Twongkwak 282 

Tystmi.  John 257, 259, 267, 282 

Ullman,  S 178 

Unatajim,  J 248,257,282,290,300 

Usher,  George 257,290,300 

Verbeke,  F 282 

Wagner,  C.  T . i78,226 

Walton,  R... _. ' 248,257.275,290,300 

Wank,  Charles . .  '  248  282, 290 

Washburn,  M.  L 224,'250,300 

Wasserman,  E 257 

Watkins .......  "  282. 300 

Webster.  Daniel 147,224,235,243,267,270 

Weckenunesch 282 

Weittenhiller,  P.  S... 248 ,"258 ,"275, 300 

White.  Charley 259,261,282.290,300 

White,  M 214, 258. 270, 275, 277, 290, 300 

Wieport,  William 178 

Williams,  Billy "_  "258, 282, 301 

Williams,  C.  A 179?  224 

Williams,  Jos.  D  _  _ 179'  igQ 

Williams,  T.  T 180, 248, 258 ~259 ~261 ~262. 263^  267 

Williams,  W.  H 174, 224, 236, 267 

Wilson,  Fred 258,282,290,301 

Wmdmiller  M 179  igo 

Wispoo "  259, 282*,  301 

Woodruff,  J .._ 267,290 

Wooskort.  M  o«o  OQA 

nS\J'*ly   AJU\J 

Yahkak 283 

Yelkatchy,B IIIIIIIIIII         ."258  ,"290, 301 

Yethnow,H 283,290,301 

Yohansen,  A o.-,y  290 

Young,  P _" _""!""!     ."228,283, 29o|  301 

Young,W 258,283,290 

Yulla,H 283,301 

Zammett.  G 090 

Zolnaks,  Thomas  . .  ."".".".""!_"_'"_"  *258,~259,~283, 301 

JOSEPH  MURRAY'S  REPORT,  1395. 

Annual  report  for  1895  of  Joseph  Murray,  agent  for  the  protection  of  the 

salmon  fisheries  of  Alaska _ 35^ 

Liquor  and  smuggling 11111111111  358 

Destruction  of  game-fowl  eggs _ 360 


VIII  CONTENTS. 

Report  for  1895.  on  salmon  fisheries,  by  Joseph  Murray— Continued. 

Destruction  of  deer 361 

Foxes --      362 

Sea  otter --.- - - 362 

Fur  seals 363 

Salmon - 

Recommendations 

Exhibit  A.  Number  seals  on  seal  islands,  1895. 372 

B.  Liquors  cleared  from  Puget  Sound  for  Alaska,  January  1. 

1894,  to  March  10,1895 ....  373 

C.  Statistics  of  salmon  pack,  1895 375 

D.  Salmon-packing  stations  in  Alaska 377 

E.  Sailing  distances  to  the  different  Alaska  canneries 

F.  Summary  of  salmon  pack,  1895 378 

G.  Alaska  and  Pacific  Coast  salmon  pack  from  1866  to  1895,  both 

inclusive 

H.  Proposed  bill  for  protection  salmon  industry 379 


CONDITION  OF  SEAL  LIFE  ON  THE  ROOKERIES  OF  THE 
PRIBILOF  ISLANDS,  1893-1895. 


The  VICE-PRESIDENT  presented  the  following 

LETTER  FROM  THE  ACTING  SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY, 
TRANSMITTING,  IN  RESPONSE  TO  A  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  SEN- 
ATE OF  FEBRUARY  17,  1896,  THE  REPORTS  MADE  BY  THE 
AGENTS,  OFFICERS,  OR  PERSONS  ACTING  UNDER  THE  AUTHOR- 
ITY OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY  IN  THE  YEARS 
1894  AND  1895,  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  FUR 
SEALS  ON  THE  PRIBILOF  ISLANDS,  OR  TO  THE  HUNTING  OF 
SUCH  ANIMALS  IN  BERING  SEA  OR  IN  THE  NORTH  PACIFIC 
OCEAN,  AND  THE  EFFECT  OF  SUCH  HUNTING  -UPON  THE  FUR 
SEALS  THAT  RESORT  TO  THE  BERING  SEA. 


FEBRUARY  27,  1896. — Referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  and  ordered 

to  l)e  printed. 


TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY, 
Washington,  I).  (?.,  February  26,  1896. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  resolution  of 
the  Senate,  dated  the  17th  instant,  wherein  I  am  directed  to  furnish 
copies  of  the  reports  made  by  the  agents,  officers,  or  persons  acting 
under  the  authority  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  the  years  1894 
and  1895,  in  relation  to  the  condition  of  the  fur  seals  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands,  or  to  the  hunting  of  such  animals  in  Bering  Sea  or  in  the  North 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  the  effect  of  such  hunting  upon  the  fur  seals  that 
resort  to  Bering  Sea,  and,  in  reply,  to  state  that  the  preparation  of 
the  copies  of  such  papers  will  involve  great  labor,  and  require  con- 
siderable time,  owing  to  the  voluminous  character  of  the  documents. 
I  therefore  transmit  the  originals,  with  the  request  that  they  be  re- 
turned to  the  files  of  the  Department  without  mutilation  in  case  the 
Senate  should  order  them  printed. 

Respectfully,  yours,  S.  WIKE, 

Acting  Secretary. 

The  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SENATE. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  FUR  SEALS  OF  THE  PRIBILOF  ISLANDS. 


TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY, 

Wd&hiftgt&n,  />.  ('.,  March  1,  jsttf. 

SIR:  Agreeably  to  your  directions  contained  in  Department  letter, 
June  9,  1894,  hereto  annexed,  I  left  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  July  23 
last  on  the  United  States  revenue  steamer  Rush  for  the  Pribilof  Islands 
in  Bering  Sea  and  other  points  in  the  Territory  of  Alaska.  I  was 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Joseph  Murray,  inspector  of  salmon  fisheries,  and 
Mr.  John  W.  McGrath,  secretary  and  stenographer. 

1  now  have  the  honor  to  transmit  a  report,  together  with  reports  of 
Mr.  Murray  and  other  official  documents,  bearing  upon  the  subject. 

Our  itinerary  was  as  follows: 

July  23,  sailed  from  Victoria,  British  Columbia;  July  31,  arrived  at 
Unalaska;  August  1,  at  Unalaska;  August  3  to  8,  St.  Paul  Island 
(Pribilof);  August  8,  St.  George  Island;  August  9,  Unalaska;  August 
11,  Akutan;  August  12,  Belkofski;  August  13,  Sand  Point;  August  14, 
Unga;  August  1G,  17,  Karluk  (Kadiak  Island);  August  18,  St.  Paul 
Island;  August  21,  Yakutat  Bay;  August  25,  Sitka;  August  20,  27, 
Juneau;  August  28,  Wrangell;  August  29,  Kasau,  Loriug,  and  Metlak- 
hatla ;  August  30,  Fort  Simpson ;  September  3,  Xanaimo  and  Vancouver. 

The  area  of  Alaska  Territory  has  been  estimated  at  531,000  square 
miles — almost  one  sixth  of  the  total  area  of  the  United  States.  The 
population,  according  to  the  Eleventh  Censuses  32,052;  of  which  total 
4,298  are  whites,  2,288  Mongolians,  23,531  Indians,  and  1,823  mixed. 

The  length  of  the  coast  line  of  Alaska,  including  the  mainland  and 
islands,  is  20,364  miles,  as  compared  with  3,090  for  the  Pacific  Coast, 
2,043  miles  for  the  Atlantic  Coast,  and  1,810  miles  for  the  Gulf  Coast, 
including  all  islands. 

Some  conception  of  the  distances  between  the  various  points  in  the 
Territory  may  be  obtained  from  the  following  table: 

Statute 
miles. 

From  United  States  boundary  on  Portland  Canal,  Alaska,  west  to  the  island 

of  Attn,  approximately 2,  374 

From  Sitka, 'Alaska,  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  (seal  islands)  as  a  vessel  sails 1,565 

From  Port  Towusend,  Wash.,  to  Uualaska 1,  949 

From  Port  Townsend,  Wash.,  to  the  Pribilof  Islands 2, 189 

From  San  Francisco  to  Unalaska 2,  37 1 

From  San  Francisco  to  Pribilof  Islands 2,  611 

From  San  Francisco  to  island  of  Attu 3,  282 

From  San  Francisco  due  west  to  meridian  of  Attu 3,  513 

From  San  Francisco  due  east  to  Washington 2,  456 

Between  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  the  city  of  Washington  there  is  a 
difference  of  time  of  six  and  one  fourth  hours;  betsveen  the  Pribilof 
Islands  and  San  Francisco,  three  hours. 
4 


SEAL    LIFE    ON'    TH  H    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  5 

The  report  of  Inspector  Murray,  hereto  annexed,  and  the  other  docu- 
ments made  a  part  of  this  report  so  completely  set  forth  the  present 
condition  and  needs  of  the  Territory  of  Alaska,  as  well  as  its  past  his- 
tory, that  little  more  is  left  to  me  than  generalization. 

The  subject  matter  naturally  divides  itself  into  several  broad  groups, 
viz:  (1)  The  fur  seal,  (2)  the  salmon  lisheries,  (.'5)  other  fur  bearing  ani- 
mals, (4)  the  land  question,  (5)  the  liquor  question,  (0)  the  Indians. 

I  shall  briefly  consider  these  questions  in  order.  It  will  be  apparent 
that  many  details  do  not  fall  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Treasury 
Department;  nevertheless  I  deem  it  expedient  to  state  what  I  saw  and 
certain  general  conclusions  thereon.  ' 

1.  THE  FUR  SEAL  OF  ALASKA. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell,  except  very  briefly,  upon  the  history  of 
the  Pribilof  Islands,  one  of  the  breeding  places  of  the  northern  fur 
seal.  Discovered  about  1787  by  Russians,  they  remained  in  the  pos- 
session of  Russia  until  ceded  to  the  United  States  in  1807.  From 
1787  to  1805  there  were  a  number  of  Russian  companies  on  the  islands, 
and  the  seals  were  ruthlessly  slaughtered  without  regard  to  age  or  sex. 
In  1800  and  1807  killing  was  suspended  and  most  of  the  Indians 
engaged  in  the  killing  were  sent  back  to  Unalaska,  whence  they  were 
originally  procured.  From  1808  to  1834  killing  was  resumed  with  lit- 
tle care  for  the  preservation  of  the  herd.  By  1834  the  herd  was  threat- 
ened with  extermination,  and  killing,  except  a  limited  number  for  food, 
was  prohibited  until  1841.  In  18.' >5  the  principle  of  killing  only  male 
seals  was  adopted,  and  from  that  time  on  the  herd  was  watched  so 
carefully  that  in  1867,  at  the  cession  of  Alaska,  about  5,000,000  seals 
were  on  the  islands,  as  many,  as  far  as  all  evidence  goes,  as  were  there 
in  1787. 

From  the  cession  until  1871  the  seal  islands  were  free  to  all,  and  as  a 
result  over  250,000  seals  were  taken  in  one  season.  After  1870,  how- 
ever, the  catch  was  strictly  regulated  and  the  monopoly  of  killing  seals 
was  leased  to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  for  twenty  years.  At 
the  expiration  of  this  lease  a  new  lease  was  made  to  the  North  American 
Commercial  Company,  which  has  not  yet  expired. 

From  1870  to  1880  about  100.000  male  seals  were  taken  on  the  islands 
annually,  without  in  any  appreciable  degree  affecting  the  size  of  the 
herd.  From  1880  on,  however,  causes  were  at  work  which  soon  became 
manifest  in  a  rapid  falling  off  of  the  seal  herd,  until  in  1800  only  about 
25,000  could  be  taken  on  the  islands  as  against  over  100,000  in  1889. 

The  following  table  shows  the  total  number  of  seals  killed  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands  from  1870  to  1894,  inclusive: 

Grand  ioial  of  seals  killed  for  all  purpose*  on  the  Prilrilof  Island*  from  1870  1o  1894, 

hiclusire. 


Year.  Number.  Year.  Number.  Year.  Number. 


1870 23,771?      187!) 110,511  1888...  1  OH  304 

1871 102,960      1880 105,718  1889 102,017 

1872 108,819      1881 i  105,063    :  1890 25,701 

1873 109,177      1882 \  99, 812  1891  ....  14406 

1874 110.585      1883 j  79,509  18'.)2 7509 

875 106,460    \   1884 \  105,434  1893.  7390 

1876 94,657    ;  1885 j  105,024  1894 15033 

1877 84,310    I  1886 |  104,521  ' 

1878 10H.3123       1887 105.760                  Total 2,047.374 


6  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIHILOF    ISLANDS. 

The  cause  of  the  decrease  in  number  found  on  the  islands  is  now 
universally  admitted  to  be  the  killing  of  female  seals.  As  no  female 
seals  have  been  killed  on  the  islands  since  1834,  it  follows  that  the  fall- 
ing off  is  caused  by  pelagic  sealing.  From  1875  to  1880  vessels  occa- 
sionally took  seals  at  sea,  but  the  number  caught  was  insignificant.  By 
1830  the  vessels  engaged  amounted  to  16 ;  in  1886,  the  fleet  had  increased 
to  34,  and  for  the  first  time  entered  Bering  Sea  and  commenced  taking 
seals.  The  subsequent  history  is  well  known;  the  seizures  and  pro- 
tests finally  culminated  in  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  the  Paris 
Tribunal,  and  the  award  providing  regulations  under  which  pelagic 
sealing  is  now  carried  on. 

The  following  table  gives  the  number  of  seals  killed  at  sea  from  1868 
to  1894,  inclusive,  dividing  the  catch  into  localities,  as  far  as  possible; 
also  giving  the  number  of  vessels  employed. 

The  figures  prior  to  1891  contain  some  seals  killed  on  the  Asiatic 
coast.  It  is  not  possible  to  distinguish  such  seals,  however,  from  those 
killed  on  the  eastern  side  of  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  Ocean, 
forming  part  of  the  Alaskan  or  American  herd. 

This  table  was  compiled  from  the  figures  in  the  British  and  American 
cases  before  the  Paris  Tribunal  and  subsequent  corrections  taken  from 
official  reports  and  the  official  returns  of  the  London  trade  sales: 

Totals  hy  localities. 


Asiatic'. 


I'D. I. 


Vessels. 

appendix 

United 

Statea 

case, 

vol.  1. 


4.367  . 

4.  :;<;: 

4.430 
8.686 
16,911 

4,430  i. 

8  686  . 

16  911 

,->.  336  . 
5.229  . 
5  H73 

•  •i 

H!  229 
5,  873 

!  " 

5,  033 

I  

5  515 

5,210 

5/210 

5.  r.44 

8.867 
8.910 
10,382 
15.551 
16,  5*5 
17.  183 
24,9(50 
38,  994 
4(5,  628 
26,915 
43,  158 
51,814 
69.  788 
73,  394 
109.001) 
142.000 

5,544  . 
8  557  ! 

310 

8,718  L 
10  382  I 

1, 

15,551  1 

14,057 
16  971 

2,500  j  

212 
920 

000 

21,  840 
13,  399 
9.  324 
8,714 
14,361 
21,838 
22,  900 
46,  642 
28,613  . 
24,101 

1,200  '.'. 
14,595  

1, 

11. 

21,304  
17,475  
15,497  
18.976  
•_•::.  041    5 
''6 

16,000 
.  .  .  .  '     7-JO 
13,  300 
11,  000 
847    18,000  • 
7.V2  
045     8,342 
478     6,  836  i 

72 

31.5S.-i  79 

18118 
18(59 
1870 
1871 
1872 
L873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1  88 1 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 
1893 
1894 


11 

15 
34 
47 
39 
68 
61 
L15 

1  -- 

84 


From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  pelagic  catch  of  the  past  sea- 
son of  1894,  the  first  year  in  which  the  regulations  of  the  Paris  award 
were  applicable,  was  the  most  destructive  in  the  history  of  pelagic;  seal- 
ing, the  total  killed  reaching  55,686,  and,  including  undetermined  skins, 
62,522,  as  against  only  15,033  killed  on  the  islands. 

From  1880  to  1894  the  pelagic  catch  increased  from  8,910  to  55,686,  or 
624  per  cent,  while  the  Pribilof  Island  catch  decreased  from  105,718  to 
15,033,  or  86  per  cent. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  7 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  evidence  shows  that  about  three- 
quarters  of  the  seals  killed  at  sea  are  females,  it  is  easy  to  understand 
the  inevitable  falling  off  in  the  herd. 

Our  agents  report  a  decrease  in  the  seal  herd  of  at  least  one-half  since 
1890,  and  it  is  apparent  that  commercial  extermination  is  near  at  hand 
unless  changes  in  the  regulations  of  the  Paris  award  are  speedily 
agreed  to. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  from  June,  1891,  to  and  through  the  season 
of  1893,  under  the  modus  vivendi  agreed  upon  by  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  all  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  was  prohibited  pending 
the  Paris  award. 

Undoubtedly  this  gave  the  seal  herd  great  relief  in  securing  for  it 
immunity  while  on  its  breeding  grounds  and  in  the  sea  procuring  food 
for  the  young  pups.  The  subsequent  regulations  established  by  the 
Paris  award  also  helped  the  herd  by  closing  the  North  Pacific  Ocean 
and  Bering  Sea  during  May,  June,  and  July.  This  is  seen  at  once  in 
the  North  Pacific  catch,  exclusive  of  Bering  Sea,  which  fell  off  from 
46,<i42  in  1892,  to  24.101  in  1-S94  (the  falling  off  in  1893  to  28,613  is 
attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  vessels  largely  went  over  to  the  Asiatic 
shores).  This  good  effect  in  the  North  Pacific  is  corroborated  by  the 
report  of  Mr.  0.  H.  Townsend,  of  the  United  States  Fish  Commission, 
now  OD  the  Treasury  files. 

The  regulations  of  the  award,  however,  failed  signally  when  applied 
to  Bering  Sea.  Although  the  herd  was  protected  in  the  North  Pacific 
in  May  and  June  (while  on  the  way  to  its  breeding  grounds),  and  in 
Bering  Sea  in  July,  yet  it  is  safe  to  say  the  greater  part  of  the  ad- 
vantages derived  from  the  regulations  was  lost  by  permitting  the  sealers 
to  kill  outside  of  the  60-mile  zone  in  August  in  Bering  Sea.  The  old 
modus  vivendi  setting  apart  Bering  Sea  as  a  breeding  ground  was 
thereby  done  away  with  and  the  sea  was  opened  to  pelagic  slaughter. 

The  fatal  results  were  quickly  to  be  seen.  In  the  past  season  only  37 
of  the  95  vessels  employed  in  sealing  entered  Bering  Sea,  yet  in  five 
weeks  they  killed  31,585  seals,  7,000  more  than  were  killed  by  95  ves- 
sels in  four  months  on  the  American  side  of  the  North  Pacific  Ocean, 
exclusive  of  Bering  Sea. 

As  a  result  of  this  slaughter,  largely  consisting  of  females,  in  Bering 
Sea,  our  agents  this  last  fall  counted  12,000  dead  pups  on  the  accessible 
portions  of  the  rookeries.  A  careful  estimate  based  on  this  count  reaches 
20,000  as  a  total  of  pups  dying  of  starvation  on  the  islands,  their 
mothers  being  killed  at  sea. 

Such  slaughter  can  only  result  in  the  rapid  extermination  of  the  fur 
seal.  Every  effort  should  be  made  to  secure  modifications  of  the  Paris 
award  regulations.  If  such  modifications  be  not  agreed  to,  the  fur  seal 
within  one  or  two  seasons  will  be  commercially  exterminated. 

It  will  be  realized  how  valuable  a  source  of  revenue  the  Alaskan  seal 
herd  has  been  to  the  United  States  when  the  following  table  is  con- 
sidered, from  which  it  appears  that  the  total  receipts  from  the  Territory, 
of  which  all  but  an  infinitesimal  portion  were  derived  from  our  sealing 
interests  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  since  1870,  amounted  to  $6,373,463.08, 
while  the  total  expenditures  of  the  whole  Territory  of  Alaska  for  the 
same  period  amounted  to  only  $1,126,624.50. 

To  prevent  speedy  extermination,  a  new  modus  viveudi  should  be 
agreed  upon  pending  a  careful  study  of  the  habits,  feeding  grounds, 
and  present  condition  of  the  fur-seal  herd  by  a  commission  of  scientists, 
who  should  recommend  such  suitable  regulations  for  pelagic  sealing  as 
will  ward  off  the  otherwise  inevitable  extermination.  Inasmuch  as  there 


8  SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIB1LOF    ISLANDS. 

are  other  Governments  also  vitally  interested  in  this  question,  notably 
Japan  and  Russia,  we  should  invite  their  cooperation.  I  would  suggest 
a  commission  of  three  members  from  each  country  to  examine  and  report 
upon  the  questions  involved,  and  that  pending  their  examination  and 
reports  the  respective  Governments  agree  to  prohibit  all  killing  of  seals 
on  land  or  sea  (save  a  limited  amount  on  land  for  food  for  the  Indians), 
or,  failing  in  this,  that  the  existing  regulations  established  by  the  Paris 
award  be  extended  to  embrace  the  whole  North  Pacific  Ocean,  from 
shore  to  shore,  with  the  additional  provision  that  Bering  Sea  be  abso- 
lutely closed  to  pelagic  sealing. 

In  the  investigation  made  by  said  commission,  the  methods  of  laud 
killing,  as  well  as  pelagic  sealing,  should  be  studied.  It  may  be  remem- 
bered that  Mr.  Henry  W.  Elliott,  formerly  United  States  special  agent, 
in  his  report  of  1890,  claimed  that  the  methods  of  driving  the  seals  on 
land  were  injurious  to  the  herd.  In  this  conclusion  he  is  corroborated 
by  Mr.  Townsend,  of  the  Fish  Commission,  whose  report  is  also  annexed. 
While  both  these  gentlemen  are  agreed  as  to  the  dire  results  in  the 
past  and  present  of  pelagic  sealing,  yet  the  fact  that  any  question  is 
raised  by  them  as  to  the  propriety  of  existing  methods  of  land  killing 
should  be  sufficient  to  relegate  the  question  to  said  commission  for 
careful  investigation. 

The  United  States  should  court  the  most  rigid  investigation  of  exist- 
ing methods  of  slaughter,  both  on  land  and  at  sea.  Out  of  such  investi- 
gation there  can  not  fail  to  come  results  beneficial  to  the  seal  herd  and 
the  valuable  property  interests  of  the  United  States  therein. 

SALMON   FISHERIES. 

Upon  careful  inspection  of  the  salmon-fishing  industry  at  Karluk,  on 
the  island  of  Kadiak,  the  principal  site  of  the  canning  industries  of 
Alaska,  and  of  many  other  canneries  scattered  over  the  Territory,  I  am 
satisfied  that  the  salmon  are  rapidly  decreasing  because  of  the  inces- 
sant and  indiscriminate  fishing  and  the  illegal  use  of  weirs,  nets,  etc., 
thus  obstructing  the  streams.  By  means  of  these  obstructions  and  by 
continuous  fishing  in  the  streams  the  supply  of  salmon  is  gradually 
being  exhausted.  The  result  will  be  that  the  Indians  will  be  reduced 
to  starvation,  as  they  are  dependent  upon  the  river  catch  for  food. 

I  was  also  in  receipt  of  many  complaints  from  Indians  to  the  effect 
that  the  canners  refused  to  employ  them  in  the  canneries.  My  personal 
observation  was  that  the  greater  part  of  the  employees  engaged  in  the 
business,  at  least  as  regards  the  fishermen,  were  aliens — Italians  and 
others — and  that  of  the  workmen  engaged  in  preparing  and  canning  the 
salmon  a  large  proportion  were  Chinese.  This  matter,  however,  has 
been  carefully  gone  over  by  Inspector  Murray  in  his  report,  to  which  I 
invite  careful  attention. 

The  present  laws  relating  to  salmon  fishing  in  Alaska  are  inadequate 
and  should  be  at  once  made  more  stringent.  A  rigid  closed  season 
should  be  provided  and  additional  inspectors  appointed  to  enforce  the 
law.  Annexed  to  Mr.  Murray's  report  there  will  be  found  a  draft  of  a 
bill  containing  such  changes  as  seem  expedient. 

The  canning  of  salmon  is  a  very  important  industry  in  Alaska;  it 
contributes  nothing,  however,  to  the  wealth  of  the  Territory,  and  I 
recommend  that  a  small  tax  be  imposed  upon  each  case  of  salmon 
canned  in  the  Territory  as  a  rental  for  the  privilege  given  to  the  canners 
to  take  salmon;  thus  some  part  of  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  Ter- 
torial  Government  will  be  borne  by  those  who  take  from  it  annually  a 
rich  harvest  and  contribute  nothing  in  return. 


SEAL    LIFK    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


LIQUOK. 

In  spite  of  the  earnest  efforts  of  the  customs  olHcers  the  smuggling' 
of  liquor  into  Alaska  and  its  illegal  sale  to  whites  and  Indians  contin- 
ues flagrantly  and  defiantly.  Considering  the  vast  area  of  the  Terri- 
tory, and  its  thousands  of  miles  of  coast  line,  it  is  perhaps  not  surpris- 
ing that  such  illegal  practices  have  not  been  completely  broken  up. 

Complaint  is  also  made  that  it  is  impossible  to  secure  conviction  of 
offenders  against  the  liquor  laws  by  jury  trial  because  of  sympathy 
with  the  accused.  This  renders  it  all  the  harder  to  enforce  the  law. 
This  flagrant  defiance  of  United  States  law  is  productive  of  evil  results 
when  the  sale  of  liquor  is  to  whites,  but  when  extended  to  Indians  its 
evil  effects  are  almost  impossible  to  describe. 

Under  the  Russian  rule  the  sale  of  liquor  to  natives  was  strictly  pro- 
hibited except  at  high  church  festivals,  but  after  the  cession  to  the 
United  States  many  vessels  sailed  to  Alaska  and  gave  the  natives  liq- 
uors in  exchange  for  furs.  The  natives  are  passionately  fond  of  liquor, 
and  will  do  almost  anything  to  secure  it.  Many  murders  by  the  Indians 
are  directly  traceable  to  liquor  obtained  in  this  way;  these  cases  are 
rarely  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  authorities.  Much  cruelty,  such 
as  wife  beating  and  other  crimes,  is  also  caused  by  the  use  of  liquor. 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  some  restriction  should  be  placed  upon  the 
importation  of  articles  which  can  be  used  by  the  Indians  for  making 
liquor,  for  example,  flavoring  extracts,  bitters,  Florida  water,  bay  rum, 
eau  de  cologne,  etc.,  which,  although  ostensibly  imported  as  medicines, 
are  obtained  really  for  the  alcohol  contained  therein. 

If  the  United  States  Government  can  enforce  the  liquor  laws,  murder, 
infanticide,  wife  beating,  and  other  crimes  now  common  among  the 
Indians  would  soon  be  unknown. 

It  may  w^ell  be  questioned  whether  the  existing  system  of  trial  by 
jury  is  not  a  failure  as  regards  the  enforcement  of  the  liquor  laws.  If; 
however,  it  is  deemed  advisable  to  retain  the  provision  for  trial  by  jury, 
I  believe  that  both  the  grand  and  trial  juries  for  the  Territory  should 
be  selected  by  the  judge  of  the  United  States  district  court.  A  similar 
practice  now  exists  in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  has  been  held  con- 
stitutional. It  might  be  well  also  to  give  to  the  United  States  commis- 
sioners the  power  to  enforce,  without  a  jury,  section  1955  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  and  section  14  of  the  act  of  May  17,  1884,  as  far  as  relates  to 
the  sale,  manufacture,  or  importation  of  intoxicants. 

Having  carefully  considered  the  question,  it  is  my  firm  belief  that 
the  liquor  question  in  Alaska  can  only  properly  be  solved  by  having:  a 
system  of  high  license  and  total  prohibition  of  sales  to  Indians.  "In 
this  way  only  will  it  be  possible  to  regulate  the  traffic  effectively. 

While  in  Sitka  I  learned  that  many  people  were  confined  in  jail 
because  of  offenses  under  the  liquor  law.  I  found  also,  to  my  great  sur- 
prise, that  some  of  them  had  been  imprisoned  since  June,  1893,  await- 
ing trial  for  offenses  for  which,  oh  conviction,  not  over  six  months 
imprisonment  could  be  imposed,  there  having  been  no  term  of  court 
since  the  first-named  date.  These  facts  have  been  called  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Attorney-General. 

FUR-BEARING  ANIMALS. 

THE   SKA    OTTER. 

The  value  of  sea  otter  skins,  just  out  of  the  water,  to-day  is  about 
$200,  whereas  fifteen  years  ago  the  price  would  not  average  much  over 


10  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

$25.  They  are  becoming  very  scarce  because  of  indiscriminate  slaugh- 
ter in  the  past.  When  under  Russian  dominion  the  sea-otter  grounds 
were  divided  into  three  districts,  one  third  being  open  to  hunting  each 
year.  Firearms  were  prohibited  and  only  bows  and  spears  were  per- 
mitted to  be  used,  and  whites  were  never  employed  as  hunters.  After 
the  cession  to  the  United  States  many  whites  engaged  in  hunting,  and 
vessels  were  fitted  out  from  Pacific  ports  with  otter  boats  propelled  by 
steam.  The  result  has  been  almost  extermination. 

The  sea  otter,  contrary  to  what  is  generally  supposed,  has  no  regular 
breeding  time;  it  brings  forth  its  young  during  every  month  in  the 
year.  To  prevent  its  extermination  hunting  should  be  prohibited 
between  May  and  October,  and  then  should  be  allowed  only  by  natives 
and  whites  married  to  natives. 

While  at  Kodiak  (St.  Paul)  a  delegation  of  whites  waited  upon  me 
and  stated  that  they  were  deprived  of  the  right  to  hunt  sea  otter  in 
Alaska.  This  right  had  previously  been  limited  by  Treasury  regulation 
to  natives  and  to  whites  married  to  natives;  that  relying  on  the  regula- 
tions then  in  force,  they  had  married  native  women  and  had  invested 
all  their  property  in  schooners,  tackle,  etc.,  and  that  on  March  2,  1893, 
the  regulation  previously  in  force,  permitting  whites  married  to  natives 
to  hunt,  was  rescinded  by  President  Harrison;  that  this  took  away  all 
their  means  ot  support.  They  therefore  asked  that  the  old  ruling  as 
to  whites  married  to  natives  be  restored,  and  that  the  ruling  of  March 
2,  1893,  be  rescinded. 

I  am  of  the  opinion,  after  carefully  examining  the  question,  that  such 
of  these  whites  as  married  natives,  relying  on  the  existing  law  as  laid 
down  in  the  Treasury  regulations  of  April  21, 1879,  were  wrongly  deprived 
of  the  privilege  of  hunting  otter  by  circulars  of  January  19,  1893,  and 
March  2,  1893,  and  I  believe  that  said  circulars  should  be  changed  so 
as  to  permit  such  whites  to  engage  in  sea  otter  hunting. 

I  further  recommend  that  the  regulations  prohibiting  the  sale  of 
breech -loading  firearms  be  changed.  In  the  gold  region  about  the 
Yukon  River  there  are  many  traders  who  have  much  gold.  They  are 
surrounded  by  newcomers  who  have  rifles,  and  they  should  also  be 
permitted  to  have  them.  The  natives  now  almost  universally  have 
Winchester  rifles,  but  they  buy  them  at  enormous  prices  and  have 
inferior  weapons.  Firearms  are  a  necessity  to  Indians  to-day,  for  with- 
out them  they  can  not  kill  deer  or  bear  upon  which  they  defend  for 
their  support. 

I  am  further  of  the  opinion  that  the  present  prohibition  against  whites 
hunting  land  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaska  should  be  discontinued. 
It  was  originally  passed  to  protect  the  seals,  but  their  killing  is  regu- 
lated now  by  other  statutes,  and  this  prohibition  should  be  removed. 

I. AND    FUKS. 

There  should  also  be  a  closed  season  from  April  to  October  for  each 
year  for  land  fur-bearing  animals.  During  this  period  furs  are  useless, 
but  the  natives  can  not  resist  the  temptation  of  killing.  For  many 
years  parts  of  the  Territory  have  suffered  from  failure  of  reindeer 
because  of  indiscriminate  slaughter  in  the  past,  simply  for  the  tongue, 
eyes,  and  tallow,  rejecting  the  meat.  Said  proposed  closed  season 
should  also  embrace  deer  and  mountain  sheep.  There  should  further 
be  a  prohibition  of  the  exportation  of  deer  skins  from  the  Territory, 
because  of  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  carried  on  by  the  natives 
simply  to  procure  the  skins  for  export. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  11 

I  am  further  in  receipt  of  information  that  certain  whites  use  poison 
to  kill  foxes.  This  should  be  prohibited  under  stringent  penalties. 

LAND  LAWS. 

The  growth  of  the  population  in  Alaska  and  the  amount  of  money- 
invested  in  the  Territory  is  increasing  yearly.  It  is  believed  that  a 
large  immigration  will  set  in  as  soon  as  Congress  shall  extend  through- 
out the  Territory  the  general  land  laws  or  some  other  system  enabling 
the  settler  to  acquire  private  ownership  in  land,  a  privilege  now 
accorded  only  to  the  occupiers  of  town  sites,  to  the  owners  of  mines 
and  canneries,  and  persons  engaged  in  trade  and  manufacture. 

Many  other  suggestions  will  be  found  in  the  appended  report  of 
Inspector  Murray.  I  merely  call  attention  in  this  brief  report  to  cer- 
tain broad  and  general  facts  and  conclusions  noted  by  me  during  the 
course  of  my  investigation. 

I  Respectfully  submitted. 

CHARLES  S.  HAMLIN, 

Assistant  Secretary. 

The  SECRETARY  or  THE  TREASURY. 


TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY, 
Washington,  D.  0.,  June  9,  189 L 

SIR:  In  view  of  the  representations  made  affecting  the  customs 
administration  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  I  desire  you  to  visit  San  Francisco, 
Portland,  Oreg..  Port  Townsend,  and  such  other  places  as  may  be  nec- 
essary, for  the  purpose  of  making  a  personal  inspection  of  said  ports  in' 
order  to  ascertain  the  exact  condition  of  affairs  and  the  remedies 
required  to  secure  the  proper  conduct  of  the  customs  business.  1  also 
desire  you  to  make  such  inquiries  as  may  be  practicable  with  reference 
to  the  salmon  fisheries  of  Alaska,  and  the  taking  of  seals  on  the  Pribi- 
lof  Islands.  Should  it  be  necessary,  in  your  judgment,  to  visit  Alaska, 
you  should  not  hesitate  to  proceed  there  to  obtain  the  desired  infor- 
mation. 

I  inclose  copies  of  bills  which  have  been  introduced  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  affecting  the  salmon,  trout,  and  other  fisheries  in  the 
streams  of  Alaska.  I  also  inclose  a  statement  showing  the  number  of 
seals  taken  for  all  purposes  from  1870  to  1893,  both  inclusive,  which 
may  be  of  service  to  you  in  the  course  of  your  inquiries. 

Instructions  will  be  sent  to  the  commanding  officers  of  the  revenue 
steamer  Ruxh  to  the  effect  that  said  vessel  will  be  at  your  disposal  dur- 
ing such  time  as  you  may  be  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

It  is  suggested  upon  your  return  that  you  give  attention  to  the  con- 
sular sealing  system,  under  which  merchandise  is  permitted  to  pass  the 
frontier  of  the  United  States  without  critical  inspection.  The  trans- 
portation of  freight  between  American  ports  via  Canada  should  also 
receive  your  attention. 

You  will  please  make  your  arrangements  to  enter  upon  these  duties 
with  as  little  delay  as  practicable,  as  the  season  is  near  at  hand  when 
your  inquiries  may  be  prosecuted  with  the  greatest  advantage. 
Respectfully,  yours, 

J.  G.  CARLISLE,  Secretary. 

Hon.  C.  S.  HAMLIN, 

Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


MKhHiT  uF  .loSKI'H   15.  ( '\\o\\  LFV.  SI'FUAL  TIM-:\SU:Y  \(,FNT 
Foil  TIIK  YKAI!  is'.ij. 


OKITCK  oi'  mi;  SPECIAL  ACKNT. 

TKKASIR  Y    DEPARTS  KNT. 
\\ 


SIR:    i    herewith  transmit  my  annual   report   lor    1S!M.  with   exhibits 
attached,  making  a  part  of  said  report. 
Kespectfully.  yours. 

rlos.   T>.  CKO  \VKKY. 

Sjx't-'uil  '/'/•(  <ix  /<  r  i/  Atjrnt. 
The  SKCKKTAIM    or  TIIK  TRKASI  i.'Y. 


TIIK    SPKC1AI.    AliKNT. 
TRKAS(  R  Y     I  h:i>  AK'l  MKNT. 
H  ox/ti ttt/to/i .   I).  ('..  Xortnthct'  ','().   /s,9/. 

SIK:  1'ui'suaiit  to  Department  instructions  dated  ?\Ia\  4,  1S1M,  I  ]>ro- 
eee<led  to  the  seal  islands  of  A laska,  sailing  from  San  Francisco  May 
li>  on  board  the  North  American  Commercial  Company's  steamer 
/,al:/ne.  Ca])tain  Bonnilield  commanding. 

I  was  accoin})anied  by  Sj»ecial  Agents  .lacob  \\.  /iebach  and  James 
.Jiidji'e.  and  we  arrived  at  St.  (ieor^e  Island  on  Ji.ne  4.  when,  pursuant 
to  Department  instructions,]  immediately  relieved  Special  A^ent  Hall 
and  placed  A^'-nt  /iebach  in  charge  of  the  island. 

( )n  -lime  (i  we  reached  St.  Paul  Island  and  found  Special  A.u'ent  Tliomas 
!•].  Adams  in  charge,  where  he  was  jx'i'initted  to  remain  until, Inly  1. 
when  he  was  temporarily  relieved,  and  Special  A^ent  -liid^e  placed  in 
charge,  his  a pjjoint inent  as  special  a^'ent  taking  ]»lace  on  that  date. 

A^ent  Adams  reinaine(i  on  St.  Paul  Island,  rendei'in^  such  service  as 
was  required,  until  the  return  of  the  steamer  in  September,  when  he 
accompanied  me  as  far  as  San  Francisco  on  his  way  home. 


(  hie  ot  the  most  agreeable  changes  to  be  noticed  on  the  islands  since 
I  first  saw  them  is  the  improvement  in  the  physical  condition  of  the 
native  inhabitants  since  sufficient  k%  food,  fuel,  and  clothing"  have  been 
furnished  them.  On  my  arrival  at  the  islands  in  lS!i;i.  every  family  was 
u  si  ted  a  nd  every  dwelling  inspected,  and  where  we  found  a  lack  of  beds, 
bedd  i  n ,u.  stoves,  cooking  utensils,  wearing  apparel,  or  ot  her  necessaries, 
they  were  immediately  supplied,  and  the  ^ood  resulting  from  this  act 
of  simple  just  ice  is  cjui  t  e  a  pparent  on  all  sides,  and  is  v(M'tv  satisfactory. 

I  )epai't  men  t  order  for  the  erection  of  a  number  of  suitable  water- 
closets  is  beinu  complied  with  as  rapidlvas  possible;  the  change  is 
hilly  appreciated  by  the  natives,  and  already  the  sanitarv  condition  of 
the  islands  show<  marked  improvement. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  13 

That  the  morality  of  the  people  themselves  has  partaken  of  the  gen- 
eral improvement  is  evident  to  all  who  observe  their  conduct  closely; 
there  are  most  certainly  fewer  carousals  and  much  less  drunkenness, 
and  there  is  every  evidence  of  a  marked  personal  pride  in  the  home  and 
family  relations. 

It  is  the  census  returns,  however,  that  show  most  clearly  the  good 
results  of  the  improvement  in  the  treatment  of  the  natives,  for  ever 
since  the  change  was  made  there  has  been  less  sickness  and  fewer 
deaths  in  proportion  to  births  than  ever  before.  (See  Exhibits  A  and  B.) 

SCHOOLS. 

The  attention  of  the  Department  has  been  called  to  the  school  system 
in  vogue  on  the  islands  by  many  of  my  predecessors  in  their  annual 
reports,  but  nothing  has  been  done  thus  far  to  remedy  its  many  radical 
defects. 

The  fault  is  hardly  that  of  the  lessees  or  of  the  teacher,  for  they  cer- 
tainly supply  a  school  building  and  school  books,  and  the  teacher  is 
competent,  capable,  and  attentive  to  his  duties,  endeavoring  at  all 
times  to  perform  his  part  well  and  faithfully. 

The  trouble  is  one  that  lies  deeper  than  the  personality  of  the  teacher 
or  the  necessary  school  supplies,  and  until  the  chief  cause  is  removed 
there  will  be  but  little  hope  of  success  in  the  attempt  to  impart  a 
knowledge  of  the  English  language  to  the  natives  of  the  Pribilof 
Islands. 

The  remedy  lies  in  an  "industrial  school1'  where  the  pupils  might  be 
kept  secluded  from  the  older  natives  until  the  English  tongue  became 
theirs. 

The  annual  report  of  the  school  teacher  on  St.  Paul  Island  is  attached, 
and  marked  Exhibit  C. 

FUEL. 

Pursuant  to  instructions  I  contracted  for  290  tons  of  coal  to  supply 
the  Government  houses  and  the  native  inhabitants  on  both  of  the  islands. 
This  amount,  added  to  the  80  tons  delivered  by  the  lessees  under  their 
lease,  making  a  total  of  370  tons,  was  delivered  by  the  North  American 
Commercial  Company  and  was  distributed  as  follows: 

Sr.  Paul  Island:  Tons. 

Govern  ment  house 10 

Use  of  natives 240 

St.  George  Island : 

Government  house 10 

Use  of  natives 100 

Total 360 

( hving  to  an  error  in  weighing  there  is  still  due  the  natives  of  St.  Paul 
10  tons,  which  will  be  given  them  next  season. 

In  my  report  for  1893  I  asked  that  storehouses  be  erected  on  both  of 
the  islands  in  which  to  store  the  supply  of  natives7  coal,  and  I  again 
respectfully  call  attention  to  the  necessity  of  having  them  built  as  soon 
as  possible,  for  it  is  very  unprofitable  to  leave  the  coal  out  of  doors  in 
the  winds,  rains,  and  snows  of  Alaska. 

The  houses  need  not  be  expensive  affairs,  and  given  the  necessary 
material,  the  natives  can  build  them  immediately  and  thus  save  the  cost 
in  two  years  by  preventing  the  present  waste  in  slackage. 


14  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    i»RIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


FOXES. 

In  December.  ISM,  there  were  trapped  and  killed  by  the  natives  of  the 
islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  811  foxes,  of  which  770  were  blue  and 
\\cre  white,  divided  as  follows: 


811 


The  skins  were  sold  to  the  lessees  and  were  classed  as  follows:  First 
grade,  blue;  second  grade,  blue;  third  grade,  white. 

The  amount  realized  on  the  skins  and  credited  to  the  natives  was  as 
follows: 

St.  Paul: 

1-  irst  class.  M»i.  at  .ffi $730 

Second  class,  u'7,  at  $1 L'OH 

Third  class.  '21 .  at  $1 27 

St.  Gcortrr: 

First  class.  -l-i:»,  at  *5 2, 1215 

Second  class,  114.  at  .f  1 156 

Third  class.  11,  at  fl  ..  14 


Total 3,710 

The  money  received  for  fox  skins  is  not  a  community  fund,  but  is 
divided  among  the  men  who  catch  the  foxes,  each  man  getting  credit  for 
the  full  value  of  the  skins  he  brings  in. 

The  money  is  credited  on  his  puss  book  and  drawn  against  for  1'ood 
and  necessaries  until  it  becomes  exhausted  before  he  again  becomes  a 
charge  on  the  Government. 

This,  too,  is  the  system  followed  in  the  spending  of  the  fund  derived 
from  the  taking  of  seal  skins;  so  long  as  the  man  has  money  to  his 
credit,  from  daily  earnings,  lie  is  self  supporting. 

I  respectfully  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  on  St.  George  Island  this 
year  the  natives  received  for  fox  skins  s^,(isr>.  while  the  earnings  for 
taking  seals  were  only  £1. ;).'{!.  leaving  a  balance  of  sl.l,~>l  in  favor  of 
the  foxes. 

This.  I  think,  is  a  lesson  that  should  not  be  forgotten  in  future,  espe- 
cially as  the  indications  are  that  unless  a  change  takes  place  very  soon 
by  which  the  fur  seal  maybe  properly  protected  there  will  not  be  many 
left  to  take  f»r  any  purpose,  and  t  he  natives  will  have  nothing  to  depend 
on  but  1  lie  blue  fox. 

Firmly  believing  in  t  he  necessity  of  fostering  and  preserving  the  foxes, 
1  huve  ordered  t  hat  none  shall  be  trapped  on  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and 
St.  ( leorge  during  t  he  trapping  season  of  1S!M-1),">,  but  1  gave  permission 
to  trap  foxes  on  Otter  Island,  where  none  have  been  taken  in  many 
years. 

SEALS. 

I  learned  on  my  arrival  at  the  islands  I  hat  owing  to  the  extremely  long 
and  cold  \\  inter  and  the  amount  of  ice  remaining  around  the  beach  late 
into  May.  the  seals  had  not  hauled  out  so  freely  as  usual,  and  the  assist- 
ant agents  informed  me  that  as  late  as  May  11  passages  had  to  be  cut 
through  the  ice  to  allo\\  the  bull  seals  to  reach  the  breeding  grounds, 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THK    PiUIULOF    ISLANDS.  15 

and  after  coming  ashore  they  lay  in  the  snow  and  ice  that  covered  the 
rookeries. 

About  June  10-12  the  young  killable  males  began  hauling  out  in 
goodly  numbers,  but  at  no  time  during  the  whole  season  of  181)4  were 
there  as  many  seals  on  the  islands  as  hauled  out  in  189:5. 

The  indications  of  decrease  are  to  be  seen  on  all  sides  in  all  classes  of 
seals,  but  more  particularly  in  the  cows  on  the  breeding  grounds. 

Beginning  October  1*3  and  ending  November  .'JO,  1<S93,  there  were 
killed  on  St.  Paul  Island,  for  natives'  food,  774  killable  seals,  whose 
skins  were  merchantable  and  have  since  been  accepted  by  the  lessees. 

Beginning  October  20  and  ending  November  17,  181)3,  there  were 
killed  on  St.  George.  Island,  for  natives'  food,  245  seals,  whose  skins  have 
since  been  accepted,  thus  making  the  total  of  1,019  skins  on  hand  at 
the  beginning  of  the  season  of  1804. 

Beginning  the  season  of  1894  May  9  and  ending  August  4, 12,190  seal 
skins  were  taken  on  St.  Paul  Island;  and  from  May  23  to  August  9, 
2,817  seals  were  killed  on  St.  George  Island.  The  date  of  the  drive, 
the  rookery  driven  from,  and  the  number  taken  at  each  killing  during 
the  season  are  attached  and  marked  Exhibits  1)  and  E. 

I  have  also  attached  copy  of  shipping  receipts  for  the  total  number 
of  skins  taken  by  lessees  during  the  fall  of  1893  and  killing  season  of 
1894,  marked  Exhibit  F. 

Also  report  of  distribution  of  the  "Community  fund"  as  Exhibits  G 
andH. 

The  total  number  of  skins  shipped  by  the  lessees  in  1894  was  16,032, 
including  the  1,019  food  skins  taken  in  the  fall  of  1893. 

For  taking,  salting,  and  lading  these  skins  the  natives  were  paid  50 
cents  per  skin,  or  $8,016. 

The  amount  actually  distributed  was  only  $7,946,  leaving  $70  of  a 
balance  to  be  distributed  next  season. 

The  distribution  of  the  $7,946  had  really  been  made  before  the  accept- 
ance of  140  skins  which  were  not  considered  first  class,  bill  which  were 
afterwards  accepted  by  the  lessees'  agent,  and  the  natives  will  be  paid 
next  year. 

DRIVING. 

Only  two  drives  from  each  rookery  were  permitted  during  the  season, 
of  1894.  All  long  drives  were  avoided,  and  yet,  in  my  opinion,  there 
were  as  many  skins  taken  as  could  have  been  obtained  by  the  lessees 
had  they  been  allowed  to  drive  oftener. 

I  was  anxious  to  have  the  driving  done  so  carefully  that  there  should 
not  be  any  possibility  of  disturbance  on  the  rookeries,  and  I  feel  satisfied 
that  the  plan  adopted  was  a  good  one. 

Had  there  been  the  number  of  young  killables  on  the  rookeries  that 
Mr.  Henry  W.  Elliott  tells  about  in  his  work  on  Alaska,  1872-1880,  there 
would  have  been  no  trouble  in  securing  100,000  skins,  but  the  "amphibi- 
ous millions"  which  Mr.  Elliott  saw  in  1876  have  passed  away  and  where 
they  swarmed  by  the  million  then  is  now  a  grass  plat  upon  which  a  seal 
is  never  seen. 

That  the  seal  herd  has  been  steadily  decreasing  during  the  past  ten 
years  is  so  self-evident  now  that  no  one  denies  it.  Had  the  decrease 
been  due  to  bad  management  on  the  islands  it  would  most  certainly 
have  been  proven  during  the  years  of  the  "modus  vivendi,"  when  not 
to  exceed  7,500  seals  were  taken  annually;  but,  in  spite  of  a  long  rest 
of  nearly  five  years,  we  could  not  get  20,000  killable  seals  on  the  islands 
in  1894,  which  shows  beyond  contradiction,  I  think,  that  the  cause  of  the 


1«!  SKAL     LIFI-:    ON     THK     rUIUILoF    ISLANDS. 

steady  annual  decrease  is  to  be  t'oinid  outside  the  islands,  and  as  there 
is  only  one  known  cause  to  which  the  decrease  can  be  attributed,  the 
almost  unanimous  verdict  of  civilization  is  that  the  indiscriminate 
slaughter  of  si  als  by  the  pelagic  sealer  is  the  principal  cause  of  the 
decrease  MI  the  herds. 

From  my  o\\  n  knowledge  of  the  situation,  gained  by  an  experience 
of  t  \\  o  seasons  on  tin-  islands,  1  have  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the  cause 
of  the  decrease,  for  one  has  only  to  look  at  the  oilicial  returns  of  the, 
pelagic  catch  for  1S!M  to  see  at  a  glance  that  however  numerous  the 
seals  may  have  been  in  1SS1  they  could  not  stand  the  drain  made  upon 
them  for  the  past  ten  years  without  showing  it. 

From  the  best  information  obtainable  it  appears  that  the  pelagic 
sealers  secured  1  12.000  seal  skins  in  1S1M.  The  oilicial  figures  from 
the  American  and  Uritisli  customs'' show  that  122,000  skins  were  landed 
on  the  Pacific  Slope,  and  there  is  good  ground  for  the  belief  that  the 
remainder  were  landed  in  Japan  or  Russian  ports  and  shipped  to 
London  via  the  Sue/.  ( 'anal. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  sides  that  70  per  cent  of  the  catch  were  females, 
mostly  mother  seals  in  young  or  in  milk,  whose  death  in  either  case 
meant  the  deatli  of  two  seals,  for  it  is  well  known  that  when  a  mother 
in  milk  is  killed  at  sea  her  pup  dies  on  the  rookery  for  want  of  sus- 
tenance. 

I  do  not  make  the  statement  of  the  death  <'f  the  pups  from  starvation 
recklessly:   there  is  positive  proof  of  it. 

In  the  latter  part  of  August.  1S1M.  when  the  first  dead  pups  of  the 
season  appeared  on  the  breeding  grounds,  1  made  daily  visits  to  the 
rookeries  and  found  hundreds  ot  dead  pups  that  had  died  of  starvation. 

I 1  undreds  yet  alive  were  so  wasted,  weak,  and  feeble  they  could  with 
difficult  y  drag  themselves  over  t  lie  rocks,  and  would  not  attempt  to  get 
out  of  the  way  when  approached. 

Between  September  1.1  and  I'd  the  Treasury  agent  on  Si.  George 
counted  the  dead  pups  on  all  the  accessible  portions  of  the  rookeries 
upon  which  lie  could  climb  without  distuibing  the  seals,  and.  estimat- 
ing the  number  n  »i  seen  to  be  in  proportion  to  those  found,  tliere  were 
-1.1  K»  dead  imps  on  St.Cieorge  Island. 

The  same  method  was  followed  on  St.  Paul,  and  the  rookeries  visited 
and  dead  pups  actually  counted  on  them  are  shown  in  the  following 
table  : 


Tolstoi  was  not  visited,  and.  a>  only  the  accessible  portion-,  of  the 
rookeries  could  be  reached,  I  consider  I  am  below  rather  than  above 
the  mark  when  I  put  the  number  of  dead  pups  on  both  the  islands,  in 

!>>!»  1.  ;it    L'0,000. 

One  sigh l  of  the  rookeries  when  the  pu ps  are  dying  by  the  h u mired 
is  enough  to  convince  anyone  <»f  the  truth  of  the  claim  made  by  the 
Treasury  agent  s.  that  it  is  because  of  starvation,  owing  to  the  deatli  of 
their  mothers  at  sea.  that  so  many  pups  die  in  August  and  September. 
There  is  no  difficult  v  \\  hat  ever  'n  tcllinu  the  difference  bet  ween  starv- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  17 

ing  motherless  animals  with  their  flattened  sides,  feeble  movements, 
and  languid  cries,  and  the  well  fed,  rounded,  romping  ones  that  are  to 
be  seen  in  pods  along  the  beach  playing  in  the  shallows. 

I  fear  that  this  question  of  dead  pups  is  not  fully  understood,  nor 
are  its  lessons  appreciated  by  the  nations  most  deeply  interested  in 
the  preservation  of  the  seals,  otherwise  some  steps  would  be  taken 
immediately  to  put  an  end  to  the  present  mode  of  sealing  at  sea. 

From  the  most  reliable  data  at  hand  I  find  that  during  the  nine  years 
beginning  with  1880  and  ending  with  1894  the  following  numbers  of 
seals  were  taken  by  pelagic  sealers: 

II 

Year.  Number.  Year.  Number,   i  Ycur.  Number. 

1886 29,000    I  1890 0(5.000    ,   18!M 142,000 

1887 45,000    !  1891 '.  78,000 

1888 51,000      1892 85,  oou  Total 662,000 

1889...                      57,1100       189:5    109.000    ! 


I  venture  the  assertion  that  the  killing  of  that  number  entailed  a  loss 
of  not  less  than  1,500,000  seals  on  the  herds  on  both  shores  of  Bering 
Sea, 

So  constant  and  so  rapid  has  been  the  decrease  of  the  seals  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands,  that  in  1894  the  only  sign  of  increase  to  be  observed 
over  last  year  was  among  the  large  young  bulls  who  were  unable  to 
find  cows  with  which  to  form  harems  of  their  own.  There  were  more 
idle  bulls  of  breeding  age  on  the  rookeries  than  there  were  bulls  with 
harems  on  the  breeding  grounds. 

That  the  seals  are  steadily  decreasing  to  an  alarming  extent,  and 
that  the  principal  cause  of  such  decrease  is  pelagic  sealing,  can  not 
longer  be  denied. 

That  the  regulations  adopted  at  Paris  do  not  protect  the  female  seals 
in  Bering  Sea  has  been  proved  the  past  season  beyond  the  possibility 
of  doubt,  for  never  before  in  the  history  of  the  business  did  the  pelagic 
sealers  take  so  many  seals  as  in  1894. 

I  therefore  respectfully  recommend  that  immediate  steps  be  taken  to 
amend  the  regulations,  and  that  an  international  agreement  be  made, 
if  possible,  by  which  there  shall  be  no  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  for  three 
years  or  until  the  rookeries  have  had  time  to  recuperate  from  their 
present  depleted  condition,  and  other  arrangements  be  made  for  the 
adequate  protection  of  the  females  in  the  future. 

If  such  an  arrangement  can  not  be  arrived  at,  then  I  should  advise 
the  immediate  killing  of  every  seal  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  rather  than 
allow  the  islands  to  be  used  as  a  nursery  for  the  propagation  of  an 
animal  that  is  to  be  destroyed  before  our  eyes  by  the  subjects  of  another 
nation. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Pursuant  to  instructions  dated  May  5,  1894,  Prof.  Charles  H.  Town- 
send,  of  the  United  States  steamer  Albatross,  was  permitted  to  take  a 
suitable  specimen  bachelor  seal  for  the  use  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion. 

GUARDING  ROOKERIES. 

On  September  1  a  lieutenant  and  a  boat's  crew  of  armed  marine  guards 
were  landed  on  each  of  the  two  islands,  where  they  remained  until 
November  1,  when  they  were  taken  off  by  the  revenue  cutter  Bear. 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 2 


18  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PUIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

During  their  two  months'  stay  on  shore  there  was  no  call  for  their 
services,  nor  will  there  ever  be  so  long  as  the  Treasury  agent  does  his 
duty  and  the  natives  are  properly  armed  and  treated  like  men. 

It  is  due  to  the  several  naval  officers  commanding  ships  in  Bering 
Sea  that  1  say  I  found  them  all  very  willing  to  do  anything  they  could 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Government  interest  on  the  seal  islands,  and  as 
early  as  June  offers  of  assistance  were  made  to  me  by  the  commanders 
of  the  Petrel,  Ranger,  and  Alert. 

The  several  vessels  composing  the  fleet  in  Bering  Sea  were  always  at 
my  service,  in  turn,  whenever  I  wanted  to  go  from  island  to  island,  and 
by  this  means  I  was  enabled  to  attend  to  many  matters  of  interest  to  the 
Department  which,  under  other  conditions,  might  have  been  neglected. 

Except  the  depleted  condition  of  the  rookeries  and  the  decrease  of 
the  seals,  everything  on  the  seal  islands  is  very  satisfactory. 

Since  the  native  people  are  better  treated  than  in  former  years — hav- 
ing plenty  of  good  food,  fuel  and  clothing,  and  houses  free  from  rent — 
there  is  evidence  of  good  health,  contentment,  and  happiness  on  every 
countenance. 

The  widows,  orphans,  aged,  and  indigent  persons  who  have  no  other 
means  of  support,  are  well  provided  for  by  the  lessees. 

The  conditions  of  the  lease  have  been  complied  with  in  letter  and  in 
spirit  by  the  lessees,  and  the  most  cordial  relations  exist  between  the 
Government  and  company  agents,  both  in  a  social  and  business  way. 

Very  respectfully  submitted. 

JOSEPH  B.  CROWLEY, 
Nperial  Treasury  At/cut,  Seal  Ixland*. 

Hon.  JOHN  G.  CARLISLE, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


EXHIBIT  A. — Census  of  native  inhabitant*  of  67.  Paul  inland,  June  30,  1894. 

Name  and  relationship.  Age.  Nairn-  and  relationship.  'Age 

Family  1—4  individuals:  Family  7—5  individuals— Continued. 

Artomanoff,  Kerrick,  husband 67  Fratis.  A  g ritina,  daughter 

Artomanoff,  Alexandra,  wile 41  Frafis, .John,  son 

Prokapieff.  Auxenia,  daughter 26  Fratis,  Simoen,  son a  4 

Pranatf,  Krdokea,  orphan 20      |   Family  8— 3  individuals  : 

Family  2—4  individuals :  G&toff,  John,  h usband '26 

Arkashotf,  Arseny,  husband 27  <  ;iut(,tr.  Avdotia,  wife 

Arkashoff,  Marina,  wife 34  Glotoff.  Mary,  mother 

i>lia° :::::::::::  \l 


Bogodanoff,  Sicoli.  husband 22  V*r  m,  V, '     i    Vi  W1'V" 

Bogodanoff,  Uleta,  wifa i  27  Sedick,  Elizabeth,  orpttwi 

P.o'godanoff,  Marv,  sister ..I  19  ]  Family  10— 2  individuals  : 

.,    &,          .     •        i.       •  -\    *      i  rf^*«l ±;^,.«4V      *1.    .        U« 


Family  4 — 4  individuals: 

Bourdukoffsk y,  Apolon,  husband 40 

Bourdukottsk'y,  CUiona,  wife 33 

Bourdukofisky,  Peter,  sou i  14 

Bourdukoffsky,  Dleta,  daughter 9 

Family  5 — 4  individuals: 

Biiterin,  Karp.  husband 40 

Buterin,  Parasciova,wife 58 


(Jalaxtioneft;  Alex,  husband 22 

Galaxtioneff,  Al artha,  wife 22 


Family  11— 1  individual : 

Hanson,  Alex,  bachelor... 

Family  12—2  individuals: 

Kochooten,  John,  husband 
Kochooten,  Tiania,  wife. . . 

Family  13— 7  individuals: 


Sedick,  Constantine,  son ;      6     1  Koch< »oten,  Jake,  husband 

Sedick,  Zohor,  orphan 8               Kochonten.  Ferronia.  wife •>» 

Family  6—5  individuals :                                                          Kochooten,  Uleta,  daughter !  18 

Emanoff,  George,  husband 26                Kochooten,  Ellen,  daughter 9 

Emauott',  Catherine,  wife 20               Kochooten,  Theodore,  son "> 

Emanoff,  Mary,  daughter 2  Kochooten,  Farian,  son 

Emanoff,  John,  son a  1$    ,          Lodoshinkoff,  Natalia,  stepdaughter 14 

Koznitzoff,  John,  orphan 17  Family  14— 3  individuals: 

Family  7— 5  individuals:                                                          Koochooten,  Euphcme,  husband .">() 

Fratis,  John,  husband     48                Koochooten,  1'elogia.  wife 4:S 

Frntis,  Aukolena.  wife 20                Koochootm,  Trepan,  orphiin 7 

o  Months. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIB1LOF    ISLANDS.  19 

EXIIIIHT  A. — CV/I.SN.S  of  natirc  Inhabitants  of  St.  I'aul  Island,  June  ->0,  1894 — Continued. 


ie  and  relationship. 


A,,, 


in-  andrela 


Family  15—6  individuals: 

Ko/eroff.  Stepan.  husband 

Ko/erolV,  Auastasia,  wife 

Kozeroff,  V  vanelly,  sou 

Kn/erolt',  Suendiili.  daughter 

Ko/eroff.  Alexandra,  daughter 

Nozikolt,  Simoen.  stepson j 

Family  16—2  individuals: 

Halerotf,  Paul,  husband j 

Ilaleroff.  Aiiritina.  wife ' 

Family  17-4  individuals: 

Krukoff.  Nieoli.  husband j 

Krukoff,  Catherine,  wife i 

Krukoff.  M  etropau,  son j 

Krukoff,  Oustenia,  daughter 

Family  18— 4  individuals: 

Krukoff,  Maxime.  husband 

Krukoff.  Feote>ta, --vile 

Krukoff.  John,  son 

Krukoff.  Condrat,  son 

Family  111— 5  individuals: 

Kushin.  Aggie,  husband 

Kushin,  Mary,  wife 

Kushin.  Lukeria.  daughter 

Kushin,  Michael,  son 

Kushin,  Nestor,  grandson 

Family  20—5  individuals: 

Mandregan,  Neon,  h usband 

Mandregan,  Mary,  \\  ife 

Mandregan,  Mary,  daughter 

Mandregan,  Zoya.  daughter    

Mandregan,  Leokeuty,  son 

Family  21 — 3  individuals: 

M  ere  u  1  iff,  A  lex,  husband 

Merculiff,  Agritira,  wife 

M  erculiff,  Paul,  brother 

Fainily  22 — 5  individuals: 

Melividov.  Anton,  widower 

Melividov.  Alexandra,  daughter 

Melividov,  ( )lga.  daughter 

Melividov.  Marcia,  daughter 

Melividov.  Alexandra,  mother 

Family  23—3  individuals: 

Melividov,  Alex,  husband 

Melividov,  Salome,  wife 

Melividov.  Anton,  son 

Family  24—3  individuals: 

Melividov.  Simoen.  husband 

Melividov,  Alexandra,  wife 

Melividov.  Margaret,  daughter 

Family  25—4  individuals: 

Xedera/off.  Stepan,  husband 

Nederazoff.  Alexandra,  wife 

Nederazoff.  Marv,  niece 

Stopoff,  Weketa.  orphan 

Family  26—4  individuals: 

Nederazoff  Martin,  husband 

Nedera/off.  Catherine,  wife 

Shane,  Mary,  stepdaughter 

Shane,  Parascovia,  orphan 

Family  27— 5  individuals: 

Oustegoff.  Peter,  li usband 

Oustegoff.  Parascovia,  wife 

Oustegoff,  Neil,  son 

Onfltegoff,  Stepanda,  mother 

Shaisnikaff.  George,  orphan 

Family  28— 4  individuals: 

Pankaff,  Partiri.  husband 

Pankatl,  ( )lga.  wife 

Pankatl'.  Vlasia,  son 

Pankaff.  Vorara,  daughter 

Family  2!)— 2  individuals: 

I'arauchin.  Daniel,  husband 

Parauehin.  Klexandria.  wife 

Family  30—2  individuals: 

Shaisnikotf,  Paul,  bachelor 

Shaisiiikoff,  Valerian,  nephew 

Family  31—4  individuals: 

Shabolin,  Necon,  husband 

Shabolin.  Tvda,  wife 

Shabolin,  Agritina.  daughter 

Shabolin.  A pollanaria,  daughter 


Family  32 — 9  individuals: 

41  Sediek,  Theodore,  husband 

42  Sediek.  Mat  ha.  \\ife 

4  Sediek,  Anastasia,  daughter 

3  Sediek.  Mary,  daughter 

1  Sediek.  Yusteiiia.  daughter 

17  Sediek,  Matrona.  daughter 

Sediek.  Inokentk. son 

42  Sediek,  Anna,  daughter 

52     ll  Sediek,  Philip,  nephew 

Family  33  -  5  individuals: 

43  ;  Seduli.  Vassily.  husband 

33  Seduli.  Kli/.abeth,  wife 

!)  S.  diili.  Vera.  daughter 

3  Mazekan,  Mary,  orphan 

Mazekan,  Ivan,  son 

37  I  Family  34— 3  individuals: 

28      {  Stepetin.  Dorofay.  husband 

12  Stepetin,  Vassa,  wife 

3      i          Stepetin,  Vassily,  son 

j  Family  35 — 4  individuals: 
48     |          Stepetin,  Elary,  husband 

38  Stepetin,  Anna,  wife 

17  Stepetin,  Oulena,  daughter 

9  Stepetin,  Parla.  daughter 

1  Family  36 — 6  individuals: 

Terrakanotf,  Kerrick,  husband 

36  Terrakanoff,  Anna,  wife 

31  Shane.  Elary.  orphan 

9  Nederazott'.  Agritina 

7  Nederazoff,  Alexia 

3  Nederazott',  Mary 

Family  37—3  individuals : 

18  I          Tetott',  Peter,  husband 

17    |  Tetoff,  Mary,  wife 

4  Tetott',  Alexandra,  sister 

Family  38— 4 individuals: 

38  Tetott.  Neon,  husband 

12  Tetott'.  Agritina.  wife 

Tetoff,  Zaher,  brother 

6  Tetott',  S'lnoen,  son 

58  Family  39—7  individuals : 

Volkoff,  Markel,  husband 

19  Volkoff,  Alexandra,  wife 

19    ;  Volkotf,  Teron.son 

a6  Volkotf.  Arefa,  son 

Volkoff,  Ellen  sister 

Kushin,  Mouvra,  orphan 

27  Merculitt',  John,  orphan 

2  ,  Family  40— 5  individuals: 

Resett;  Nicoli,  husband 

36     !          Reseff,  Marina,  wife 

31     |          Reseff,  Olga,  daughter 

1 1     !          Igna tieff,  Anna,  orphan 

3  Giteff.  Mary,  orphan 

Family  41—1  individual: 

39  Bellaglozatf,  Ellen,  widow 

36     i  Family  42— 3  individuals: 

14     i          Koshernikoff.  Ardita,  widow 

7  Koshernikoff,  Paul,  sou 

Merculiff,  Martin,  orphan 

30  Family  43—1  individual : 

26  |  Krukoff,  Anna,  widow 

3        Family  44— 2  individuals : 

59  Krukoff,  Natalie,  widow 

11  Krukoff.  John,  son 

Family  45-3  individuals: 

31  j  Balakshin,  Matrona,  widow 

31  Shoposhnikoff.  Parascoria,  orphan 

Rookorishnikoff,  Stepan,  orphan 

2     |    Family  46— 4  individuals: 

Kozlaff,  Parascoria,  widow 

35  Kozlaff,  Michael,  son 

32  '  Kozlatf,  Nicoli.  son 

Kozlaff,  Anton,  son 

58        Family  47—2  individuals : 

14  Serebrinkotf,  Olga,  widow j    29 

Serebrinkott',  Repsemer,  son a  15 

27  Family  48—3  individuals : 

24  Popotf,  Ardotia,  widow |     34 

5  Popoff.  Krasania,  daughter 4 

a  5J    [          Babakslin,  Anna,  daughter 9 

a  Months. 


20 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


EXHIBIT  A. — Census  of  native  inhabitants  of  St.  1'aul  Island,  June  30, 1894—  Continued. 


Name  and  relationship. 


Name  and  relationship. 


Family  49-1  individual: 

Pishnikotf,  Vasselisa.  widow 

Family  50—2  individuals: 

Popotf.  A  fauasia.  widow 

Shuttyagin,  Daria,  orphan 

Family  51—3  individuals: 

Rokorishnikott',  Annisia,  widow -. . 

Rokorishnikoff,  Anna,  daughter 

Rokorishnikoff,  Parasroria,  daughter  . . . 
Family  52 — 1  individual : 

Rezanzolf,  Anna,  widow 


34 


18 


Family  53— ;i  individual*: 

Si-dick.  Daria,  widow 

Koochooten,  Ellen,  daughter 

Kooehooten.  /enoria.  daughter 

Family  54— 4  individuals  : 

Pet  off,  Feclusia,  widow 

I'etoff.  (Irene,  daughter 

Pet  off,  Sofia,  daughter 

Kechergrin,  George,  son 

Family  55 — 2  individuals : 

Tarrentora,  Anna,  widow 

Tarrentora,  Anna,  daughter 


Age. 


RECAPITULATION. 


Families 

55 

Males  between  5  and  17  years    ....          .... 

23 

196 

21 

70 

110 

Females  between  5  and  17  years  

25 

86 

15 

Marriages            

4 

24 

Births 

9 

42 

Deaths                                                       

7 

Orphan  children  at  Vnalaska  school. 

Age. 

Sedick,  Arotin 13 

Krukaff,  Lukaria 17 

Koznitzoff.  Agafia 16 

Merculiff.  Luboff 18 

Granaff,  Auastasia 16 

Zacharoff,  Feodosia 15 

Zatzmanatf,  Auxenia 1 

Fratis,  John 12 

Resident  native  population 196 

Number  of  native  children  absent  at  school 8 

Total  population 204 

EXHIBIT  B.— Census  of  St.  Georgt  Island,  June  30,  1894. 


Name  and  relationship. 


Galanin,  Ocalena,  widow 

Galanin,  Evan,  son 

Galanin,  Parferi,  husband 

Galanin,  Fevronia,  wife 

Gorokoff,  Cornell,  husband 

Gorokoff,  Katrina,  wife 

Galanin,  Alexander,  adopted  son 

Kulikuloff,  Evan,  husband 

Kulikuloff,  Barbara,  wife 

Zacharott',  Eraanuel -• 

Lekanoff,  Stepan,  husband 

Lekanotf,  Pelegia.  wife 

Lekanotl',  Anatole,  sou 

Lekanoff,  Sergius.  son 

Lekanoff,  Sarah,  daughter 

Lestenkoff,  Demetri,  widower 

Lestenkoff,  Anna,  daughter 

Merculoff,  Mark 

Lestenkoft',  Rev.  Innokenty,  priest 

Lestenkoff,  Elizabeth,  wife 

Lestenkoff,  Mary,  daughter , 

Lestenkoff,  Michael,  son 

Lestenkoff,  Sarah,  daughter 

Malayansky,  Nicoli,  bachelor,  but  head  of 

family 

Malavansky,  Repsemia,  sister 

Malavansky,  Wana,  sister 


Age.  Name  and  relationship. 


:il  Malavansky.Stepineda.  daughter  of  Rep- 
semia • 

Malavansky,  Peter,  son  of  Repsemia 

Menaloff.  Joseph,  son  of  Fevronia,  but  head 
of  family 

Menaloff,  Fevronia,  widow . 


48 

49 

14 

25 

25 

4 

2 

a  10 

31 

7 

9 

64 

60 

25 

22 

18 


34 
19 

a  Months. 


Menaloff,  George,  son  of  Fevronia 

Menalotf.  Helena,  daughter  of  Fevronia 

Menaloff,  John,  son  of  Fevronia 

Menaloff,  Martha,  daughter  of  Fevronia 

Nederazoff,  Nicoli,  son  of  Eogenia,  head  of 

family 

Nederazoff,  Eogenia,  widow 

N  ederazoff,  Malinia,  daughter 

Nederazoff,  Isador,  son 

Oustegoff',  Alxia,  husband 

Oustegoft',  Martha,  wife 

Oustegoff,  Alxaudra.  daughter 

Oustegoff,  Simon,  husband 

Oustegoff,  Mary,  wife 

Philimonoff,  Adrian,  husband 

Philimonoff,  Parascovia,  wife 

Philimonoff  Pelegia,  daughter 

Pliilimonolf.  Andronic,  husband 

Philimonoff.  Zenovia.  wife 

Pliilimonoff,  Marina,  daughter 

Philimonoff,  Mary,  daugh  ter 


Age. 


15 


SEAL    LIFK    ON    THE    FRIBILOF    ISLAM;-. 
EXHIBIT  B. — Census  of  St.  George  Island,  June  30,  IfM-l — Continued. 


21 


Name  and  relationship. 


Philiinonoff,  Leonta,  daughter 

Philimonoff,  Kotr,  husband 

Philiinonoff,  ( )leta,  wife 

Philimonoff,  Gregory,  son 

Philimonofr,  Bogenia,  (laughter 

Philiinouoff,  Demetri,  son 

Onstegoff,  Kproxia,  stepdaughter 

Oustegoff.  Michael,  stepson 

Oustegoff,  Susanna,  stepdaughter 

Prokopeoff.  Peter,  husband 

Prokopeoff  Stepineda,  wife 

Frokopeoff.  Aufanasia,  brother  of  Peter 

Rezanzoff,  Fedosia,  widow 

Ke/.an/otf,  Innokenty,  son  of  Fed&sia 

Rezanzon",  Seretina,'  granddaughter  of  Fe- 

dosia 

lit •  /.a  1 1 zoff.  Peter,  husband 

Resansoff,  Matrona.  wife 

Rezanzoff,  Tatiana,  daughter 

Shane,  Raiesa,  w  idow 

Shane,  Oleta,  daughter 


Age. 


a3 
52 
32 
21 
20 

8 
14 

R 

Jl 


Name  and  relationship. 


50 
16  i 

7 

48 

52 

10 
42 
25 


Shane,  Michael,  son 

Menaloff,  Stepan 

Menalotl,  Neduda,  at  Unalaska  school 

Swetzott'.  Kusl  ice,  li usband 

Swet/.off,  ( 'hristiana.  wife 

Swet/.off,  Gregory,  son 

Swet/off,  Polixina 

Suet/olV.  I 'a  ul,  son 

Meualotl',  Evan,  sou  of  NVassalesa,  head  of 

family 

Menaloff,  Wassalesa.  widow 

Menaloff,  Alexandra,  daughter 

Meualotf,  Nicoli,  son 

Menalott',  Eudokia,  daughter 

Menaloff,  Helen,  daughter 

Philimonoff,  Niacen.  husband 

Rnzanzoff,  Eudokia.  wife 

Ruzanzoff,  Innokenty,  son 

Ruzanzoff.  Fedosia,  daughter 

lluzanzotf,  Zoia,  daughter 

Ruzanzoff,  Joseph,  son 


Age. 


17 
42 
16 
13 
10 

7 

44 
21 
19 
13 

2 
a5 


Males,  42;  females,  48— total,  90. 


a  Months. 
Birth  record. 


Date. 


July  8, 1893 
Aug.  30, 1893 
Feb.  4, 1894 
May  6, 1894 


Name. 


Martha F... 

Sarah F... 

Joseph I  M... 

Leonta F  ... 


Name  of  parents. 


Fevronia  Merculon",  mother. 
Stepan  and  Pelegiu  Lekanoff. 
Simeon  and  Eo<lokia  ri.iiinionoff. 
Andronic  and  ZenoA-ia  Philimonoff. 


Mortality  record. 


Date. 

Name. 

Age. 

Sex. 

Cause. 

Dec.   14,1894 

Simeon  Philimonoff  

2 

M... 

Jan.    18,  1894 

Arkentv  Nederazoff  .... 

42 

M 

May   14,1894 

Helena  Lestenkoff  

29 

F  ... 

Consumption  . 

Name  of  parents. 


Son  of  Andrian  and  Parascovia. 
Daughter  of  Rev.  Innokenty. 


Marriage  record. 


Date. 


Sept.  8,1893 
Nov.  19,1893 
Nov.  22,1893 


Contracting  parties. 


Remarks. 


Simeon  Oustegoff  and  Mary  Teracanoff •  At  St.  Paul. 

Peter  Prokopeoff  and  Stepineda  Merculoff ' 

Parferi  Galanin  and  Fevronia  Swetzoff 


J.  E.  ZIEBACH,  Assistant  Treasury  Agent. 

EXHIBIT  C. — Report  of  St.  Paul  Island  school. 

ST.  PAUL  ISLAND  SCHOOL,  August  Id,  1894. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  herewith  suhmit  to  you  the  following  statement  of  time  of  tuition 
and  study  throughout  the  eight  school  months: 

Nine  o'clock  a.m. — Calling  the  roll,  5  minutes;  time  for  study,  25  minutes  (slate 
work);  arithmetic,  30  minutes;  alphabet,  20  minutes;  spelling,  20  minutes;  recess, 
20  minutes;  Fourth  Reader,  25  minutes;  Third  Reader  (class  1),  20  minutes;  primer, 
15  minutes. 

One  o'clock  p.  m. — Third  Reader  (class  2),  20  minutes;  Second  Reader,  20  minutes; 
First  Reader,  20  minutes ;  alphabet,  15  minutes. 

Monday  and  Wednesday,  geography;  Tuesday  and  Thursday,  penmanship;  Friday, 
United  States  History.  The  foregoing  subjects  are  taught  thirty-five  minutes  each 
day,  respectively. 

Yours,  respectfully,  S.  MELOVIDOV. 

Mr.  J.  B.  CROWLEY, 

Special  United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


'' 


SFAL    LIFE    ON    THE    I'RIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


]!tl>t»-t  <'!'  >/.   I'aul  Inland  xrhool  for  the  Jir»t  l<nn.  IS!'.:. 

ST.    1'Al'l.    IM.AM>.  AIA>KA.   I  >c<  ember  •>  1,  IS'1-'. 

hi  AK  SIK:   The  following  is  a  report  of  St.  1'anl  Island  school  for  the  tirst  term. 
commencing  September  1.   ISMa.  and  ending  1  >ecember  L'L'.  1N!»;;. 


1 

IVt.-r  l',uurdiik«>t.-k\   14          72            o 

0     ......       2         2         2 

2           2 

•J 

.1  c  1)1  11   h  rat  is    '  .                                                                      2            o 

n     1          1         2 

1     

;t 

Tref<m   KotYhuoten  2            ' 

ii                       21         2 

1     .... 

4 

1'aul  Kosheonikul  1              2            o 

2                        112 

1     

-, 

Mirhac!  K.t/.lr.f  2            0 

1              •_'     1 

t; 

Mirhael  Kusiiin    2            0 

o     •_'        2        2 

1     

7 

M>-t  mian  K  rukiit'  •_'            i 

0     ...    .          2         2         2 

1     

^ 

•  Inlin    Krilknt'lll        1                    2                 'I 

I                       -j        •>        -i 

'»                     *> 

;t 

.loiin  KrnkotVJ)  1              2            " 

1     .... 

10 

•Ji'lm  Mnvulii'f  2 

1     . 

1     

11 

M  art  i  n  M  t-rc  ul  id'  -  11            2            l 

2                       2        2         2 

1     

12 

Sir],  an  l:....kovislmikuf  12          TJ            0 

0     .                  2         2         2 

1      

i:: 

Inimk,  ntv  Srdirk            H          71             1 

0     2 

1 

14 

Xa.-har  Se'diek.    ...                                                       s         72 

0     1          1 

1     .... 

i:. 

(  'i'n>tantiue  Sedii  k  fi          f.i 

n              1      .  ..      1 

Hi 

Valerian  Sliaislinikut'     14          72             < 

1      2         2 

2          2 

17 

(,.-,,,_,-  Sliaislmiknl'  11           72              i 

0    ...             2        2        2 

2          2 

18 

Xarhar  Tetof  14           72              i 

1      2         2 

1 

Tula!  1M         2>7 

it             2       Iti       Hi       IS 

1  1!       :> 

19 

Anna  I!alak>]iin  It          tin            :; 

o     2        2        2 

i 

JO 

Oiilirta   linimliikofsky  '•<          T2            0 

0     2        2        2 

i    .... 

1 

Clavdia  (  ialakt  ionot'  14          72 

t  ,     2        2        2 

2    .... 

KlI'-n  Ki.trii.mtcn  '.           72 

0                '.'      1 

Msivra  Ku-liin    i:i          72            0 

1  1     •_'        -J        'J 

1 

4 

Natalia    I  ...d'-lm  i  k,,t          14          7o 

1     •_'        2        2 

2          2 

5 

Marv  •   Maud;  e^an  '.            72             ' 

]                                              •)                 -I                 ') 

1     .  ... 

Xne  Mandreirjui    7         .V.»         l:; 

H                    1        1 

7 

Alexandra  Mrl.iviilot  12          72 

I)     ......       2        2         2 

2           2 

y 

(il-a  Mrlovid.tf  >          72 

0     .                  2         2        2 

1            1 

'J 

Marv  Melovidtit'  -  ''•          72 

0             1     1 

i) 

Marv  NYclaiv/nf.  ...                            11          T'J 

1      2         2 

1     

1 

Anna  Hdokovislmikof  It         T'J 

n     1          1          I 

1     

Vi-ra  Sednlre  i:          r,7 

0     2         2         2 

1           1 

Kli/al.t-tli   Scdirk      'i          72 

1              1               1 

4 

M  a  i  \  Snl  irk  t>          72 

n             I      ...J..            1 

Mar'\   Sham-    14          70 

it                       22         2 

2          2 

,; 

1  >aria  shut  va-an                                                              l'{          T'J 

n     1          1         1 

1     .... 

-7 

I  '•(•  na  '1'i-t  i  't1                                                                                    ^            T'J 

0     ;;         -j         '2 

1     

'•'•• 

S.tplii.i  'I'etot'.                                                                   'i          T2 

II          1    1 

T..tal    I!  «    1.  IIS          2:. 

HI              f,       11        14       20 

14          7 

i  iran.l  tntal                                                              -TT    2.  T02           :?4 

ii,         H     :<u     :HI     :iH 

:to      12 

(  i  KNKKAI.    >I  M  M  A  II  ">  . 

iber  of  nil  nils  (MI  rolled   i  males    1^'    ten  ales    ''O  i 

88 

\  Ve 

ra  "<•  d  'i  i  1  v  a  1  1  e  n  c  1  a  nee 

k  ,   ,, 

.17 

A  \  * 
\  ,-.. 

[•i''(.  ii»-i   cent  <>t    attendance 

\  \  ' 

Sill 

iber  of  ca^c-,  nft  ardiness 

1!) 

\  \'e 

['a  '  r  e  a  *  f  e  (t  t'  ]  1  1  1  1  1  i  1  s 

Sill 

liter   weeks  iif  sidli  •()! 

1  'l  ''  * 

Snt 

72' 

Names  of  tcxt-li.M.ks  used:  Mc(  \\\  tte\  's  J'riiner :  Mc<  Juft'ev  's  First  K'eader;  Mc(Jnf- 
fey's  Second  K'eader:  Mc(  i  iilley's  Third  I^'eader ;  Mc(  inU'ey's  Fourth  K'eade.r;  Robin- 
son's Arithmetic:  Cornell's  <  Jeo^i  apli  \  :  Sei'ibner's  Copy-book. 

SIMI;<IN   A.  Mr.i.n\  iitnv,   Tfiu-hcr. 
Mr.  'I  .   I'..  A  i. AM-. 

f'/iitcil  St<thx   '1'ri'nxnrii  At/cni. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PlilBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Hrnort  of  St.  I'aitl  I.^lfDid  ncho(tl  for  UK-  m-cond  term,  1894. 

ST.  I'AIH.  ISLAND.  ALASKA,  April  .10,  1894. 
Mr.  T.  K.ADAMs.  I'nilcd  .SVa/f.s  Treaxurii  Ayrnt  : 

The  following  is  a  report  of  St.  Paul  Island  school  for  the  second  term,  commencing 
January  15.  18JU.  and  ending  April  30.  1SSM  : 


1 

2 
8 
4 
5 
8 
7 

it 
10 

8 

U 

14 

15 
10 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 

2:t 

24 

25 

27 
28 
29 
HO 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
3(5 
37 
38 
39 
4U 
41 
42 

Name. 

St 

< 

N  U  111  ll.'l-  of  da\s 

present. 

Number  of  da\s  :il>- 
sent. 

Number  of  times 
tardy. 

llranehcs  of  study 
pursued. 

• 

3 

1 

M 

.= 

g 

I 

ii. 

I 

2 
1 

1 

2 
2 

2 
2 
1 
2 
2 

2 
1 
1 
2 
j 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

^ 

;;«//*. 

70 
70 
68 
70 
70 
7d 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
68 
70 
70 
70 

0 

0 
2 
0 
0 
1) 

0 
0 
0 
0 

0 
0 
0 

(1 

0 
0 
0 
0 
2 
0 
0 
0 

it 

0 
0 

1 

4 
0 
0 
0 
0 

s 

2 

o 

0 

o 

1 
0 

1 
I 

o 

1 

0 

2 
1 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 
1 
2 

g 

1 
2 
2 
2 

2 

•2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

2 

2 
2 

2 

•J 
2 

2 

2 

1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 
1 
2 
I 
1 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 

2 



(  jrorire  Koteheriran  16 

2 

1 

Trefoil  Kotehooten                                                             8 

INnl  Kosheouikof                                                          11 

Michiel  Kozlof                                                                 8 

.... 

Michael  Rush  in                                                              10 

Metrof'in  Krukof                                                           10 

John  Krukof  (\I)                                                           14 

2 

1 

John  Krnkof  (N)                                                            13 

John  Merculief                                                                  10 

Martin  Mereulief                                                         1" 

1 

1 

Step-in  Rookovishmikof                                              13 

1 
1 



Philip  Sedick    17 

/achar  Sedick                                                                9 

Constantin  Seilirk.          .           7 

2 
2 
2 

1 

Zachar  Tetof                              ...       15 

Total                                          .                          266 

1,536 

4 

11 

22 

22 

22 

22 

2 
2 

2 

1 
2 

o 

2 
1 
2 
2 
1 
2 
1 
2 

2 
1 
2 

1 

9 

4 
1 

Girlt. 
Anna  Balakshin  10 

67 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 
66 
70 
70 
69 
70 
70 
70 
67 
70 
70 
70 
70 
70 

3 

0 

8 

0 
0 

4° 
0 
0 

1 

1) 

0 
0 
9 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

(1 

0 
3 
1 

0 

(1 

0 

0 
0 
0 
0 

0 

2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 
2 
2 
1 

A 

2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 

o 

2 

1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 

2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 

2 
1 
2 
2 
2 
2 
1 
2 

1 

2 

1 
2 

1 

2 

Onletar  BourdnkofVky                                               10 

Clavdia  Galaktionof                      ...                 I      14 

Ellen  Kotehooten                                                           10 

2    .... 

1 

Natalia  Lodoshiukof   15 

Alexandra  Melovidof      13 

2 

2 

1 

Ol"a  Melovidof  9 

Marv  Melovidof                                                               7 

Mar3"  Xedarezof  12 

Vera  Sedulee                                                                14 

2    .... 

Elizabeth  Sediek  7 

Mary  Sedick                                                                      7 

Mary  Shane                                            .                         15 

2         1 

Daria  Shut  vagan  14 

Irena  Tetof                                                                        9 

Sophia  Tetof  .             7 

Total                                                                     216 

1,  389         11 

5 

20 

20 

20 

20 

7 

4 
8 

Grand  total                                                    482 

2,925 

15 

16 

42 

42     42 

42 

16 

GENERAL  SUMMARY. 

Number  of  pupils  enrolled  (males,  22  ;  females,  20;  ...........................     42 

il    at 


Average  daily  attendance 

Average  daily  absences  .....................................................     21 

Average  per  cent  of  attendance  ..............................................     99 

Number  of  cases  of  tardiness  ...............................................     16 

Average  age  of  pupils  .......................................................     11£ 

Number  weeks  of  school  ....................................................     14 

Number  days  of  school  ......................................................     70 

Names  of  text-books  used  :  McGuffey's  Fourth  Reader,  McGuffey's  Third  Reader, 
McGuffey's  Second  Reader,  McGuffey's  First  Reader,  McGuffey's  Primer,  McGuffey's 
Spellers,  Robinson's  Arithmetics,  Cornell's  Geography,  United  States  History, 
Payson,  Dunton  and  Scribner's  copy  books. 

SIMEON  A.  MELOVIDOV,  Teacher. 


24 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


EXHIBIT  U. — Annual  statement  of  fur  seals  killed  on  St.  Paul  Island,  Ala  aim,  duriny  the 

year  ended  August  7,  1894. 


Dat«-. 

1894. 
May     9 
23 

24 

31 
June    2 

10 

13 

14 
16 
19 
23 
20 

I? 

July    2 
2 

4 

5 

6 
7 
13 
14 

17 

•21 
•23 
23 

24 
25 

30 
Aug.    1 

4 

Rookery. 

Sea  Lion  Rock  

Number  of  seals 
killed  for  na- 
tives' food. 

be      -g        - 

c       %         =  x 

g      g-J   tfe 
-  /:    ^7    .=.•; 

"•"?      ?-  I       •=  T 

I*  f  l! 

—        •/.         v: 

87  ''•     87    
1K4.       lll-l 

Number  of  seals  ki 
lessees  for  skii 

3"         Rejected. 

Z           1 
£             5 

?           ^ 

83     = 

<J        i     P      j    0 

led  by           ^, 

| 

| 
• 

^             •/. 

1            1 

!  70 

Skins  rejected.  j 

1  Total  number  of 
;  seals  killed. 

Watch  ni  e  n  ,  Northeast 
Point                                          •*.         ± 

Garbotch 

141       1411             i 

W  a  t  c  li  TII  e  n  ,  Northeast 
Point  

i 
i  

Watchmen.  Southwest  Bay 
Watchmen.  Northeast 
Point  
Reef 

5          5 

1 

| 

j  

""4"  "i'215 
2 

""i"        541 
4          850 

2 
5          558 

"*8         967 

1 

17  I       869 

12  (       917 
6  i       522 
!          2 
251 

5 
11          944 
«      1.  177 
2 

x         370 
9      1,  025 

9          910 
4  {       154 

4          4 

1   9]l            4 

1,215      1,211 
2 
541        :.:«» 

850         84(i 
558          .Vi3 

9ti7          959 
1              1 

S(i«>          S52 

917          90.'. 
522          516 
>>             2 

251           24("> 

D44        9:;;i 
1,177      1.171 

370          362 
1,025      1.010 

910          9(H 
154          15(1 

Watchmen,  Southwest  Bav 
Tolstoi  and  Middle  Hill.  -  - 

') 

84«           3 

1 

W  a  t  c  h  m  e  n  ,  Northeast  1 
Point                                    ! 

Lukannon 

.").">:{         5 

!t.r>9            H 

1      

852          17 

905          12 
516           6 
2 

Watchmen,  Northeast 
Point 

Zoltoi          

Watchmen,  Southwest  Bay 
Northeast  Point  (south 
side) 

Northeast   Point  (north 
side)  



Half  Way  Point 

Watchmen,  Southwest  Bay 

246           5 

5    .. 
933         11 
1.  17J           6 

9 

Watchmen,  Northeast 
Point                                    <          '• 

Reef                      i  

Watchmen,  Southwest  Bav 
Northeast    Point  (sand 

| 

1 

362            8 
1.016           9 

901            !) 
150  •         4 

Northeast  Point  (north 

i  Northeast  Point  (  so  u  t  h 
side) 

;  Middle  Hill 

'  Half  Way  Point 

287     284           3 
272     260           3 
4         4 

Reef 

1 

I  Watchmen,  South  west  Bay 
Total 

:                    

910     903           7 

11,  176  i     109 

1    11.286    11,176 

•     110    11,286 

I  hereby  certify  that  all  skius  herein  indicated  as  having  been  rejected  were  after- 
wards accepted  by  the  lessees  as  prime  skius. 
October  8,  1894. 

Jos.   B.  CKOWLKY, 

.Special  Treasury  .if/en t. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Annual  statement  of  fur  seals  killed  on  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska,  from  October  .'•/  to 

December  30,  1894. 


Date. 

Kookery  . 

Number  of  seals  killed  for  natives'  food. 

Large 
young 
seals. 

Skins 
accepted 

Skins  rejected. 

Under 
size. 

Stagy. 

Cat. 

1893. 
Oct.    23 
Nov.    2 
6 
7 
14 
14 
20 
22 
27 
27 
30 

9 
69 
7 
82 
6 
173 
4 
208 
3 
188 
25 

9 
69 

79 
6 
170 
4 
207 
3 
175 
22 

/oltoi 

Middle  Hill                 ...                                  

3 

K.'i-t' 

3 

By  watchmen  for  food  ...          

Reef 

I 

By  watchmen  for  food 

Tolstoi            

13 
3 

Total 

774 

751 

19 

3 

1 

I  hereby  certify  that  all  the  seal  skins  above  indicated  as  having  been  rejected 
were  afterwards  accepted  by  the  lessees  as  prime  skins. 
October  8,  1894. 

JOSEPH  B.  CROWLEY, 
Special  Treasury  Agent. 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  above  is  a  true  and  correct  statement  of  fur  seals  killed  on 
St.  Paul  Island  during  the  period  named,  and  that  the  skins  of  the  same  have  been 
salted  in  the  North  American  Commercial  Company's  salt  house. 

THOMAS  E.  ADAMS, 
Assistant  Special  Treasury  Ageni, 


26 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


EXHIBIT  E. — Annual  statement  of  fur  seals  killed  on  St.  George  Island,  Alaska,  during 
the  year  ended  August  8,  1894. 


Date. 

Number  of  !  Number  of 
seals  killed  !  seals  killed 
for  natives'  |   by  lessees 
food.           for  skins. 

Rookery.                                     =         1  ,:      A.-.-epted. 

Aggregate. 

1     1  :  S 

° 


'%  i 


23 

Zapadnie  

77         77 

25 

Zapadnie  (bv  •niards  for  food) 

4            4 

27 

East  and  North        .   .                              ... 

47         47 

Nov.    1 

Zapadnie  (bv  watchmen)  

4  !         4 

6 

North  and  Starry  Arteel 

38  '      38 

7 

East  

9  1        9 

g 

Zapadnie  (bv  watchmen) 

4  1        4 

14 

do...     '.  

1           i 

17 

North  and  Starry  Arteel  

31         31 

Total  

245       245 

245 

245 

1894. 
May  23 

North... 

„ 

40 

40 

Jane    8 

do  .              

126 

126 

|       126 

June  15 

Zapadnie  (by  watchmen)  

0                       0 

22 

Great  East 

826 

826 

'      826 

26 

Zapadnie  (  by  watchmen)  

3            3 

July     2 

Starry  Arteel 

468 

468 

468 

J     3 

Zapadnie  (by  watchmen)  

4           4 

9 

Zapadnie 

303 

303 

1      303 

13 

Great  East 

275 

275 

275 

16 

Starry  Arteel  

181 

181 

1       181 

21 

North 

249 

249 

249 

24 

Zapadnie  (by  watchmen)  

3           3 

26 

Zapadnie 

178 

178 

178 

Aug.    6 

Little  East  and  North 

152 

1 

152 

1         153 

g     7 

Zapadnie  (by  watchmen)  

3           3 

9 

do 

3           3 

Total 

19         19 

!<> 

19 

Grand  total 

3  062 

1     3  063 

J.  E.  ZIEBACH,  Treasury  Agent. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  27 

EXHIBIT  F. 

ISLAND  OK  ST.  GKOUGH, 
Bering  Sea,  Alaska,  Augustus,  1894. 

This  is  to  certify  that  3,062  fur-seal  skins  have  this  day  been  shipped  on  board  the 
North  American  Commercial  Company's  steamer  Lakme,  S.  Bonitield,  master,  con- 
signed to  the  North  American  Commercial  Company,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

JACOH  E.  Z IK BACH, 

Assistant  Treasury  Agent. 


ISLAND  OF  ST.  PAUL, 
Bering  Sea,  Alaska,  August  29,  1894. 

This  is  to  certify  that  12,969  fur-seal  skins  have  this  day  been  shipped  on  board 
the  North  American  Commercial  Company's  steamer  Lakme,  S.  Bonitield,  master,  con- 
signed to  the  North  American  Commercial  Company,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

JAMES  JUDGE, 
Assistant  Treasury  Agent. 


EXHIBIT  G. — Division  money,  St.  George  Island,  18(J4. 

ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND,  August  9,  1894. 

Division  No.  T> :  Earnings  of  natives  for  fur-seal  skins  taken  since  October 
20,  1893,  to  August  7,^1894,  both  inclusive,  3,062  skins,  at  50  cents  each. .  $1, 531. 00 

First  class : 

Lestenkoff,  Demetri  (chief) 125. 44 

Lestenkott',  Rev.  Innokenty 75. 44 

Swetzoff,  Eustice  (second  chief) 100.44 

Philimonoff,  Eoff 75.44 

Philimonoff?  Simeon 75. 44 

Philirnoiioff.  Andrean 75.  44 

Oustegoff,  Alexia 75.44 

Grokoff,  Cornell 75.  44 

Merculoft',  Joseph 75. 44 

Second  class : 

Malavansky,  Nicoli 60. 35 

Rezanzoff,  Peter 60.35 

Philimonoff,  Andronic 60. 35 

Lekanoff,  Stepan 60. 35 

Oustegoff,  eiineon 60.  35 

Galanin,  Parferi 60. 35 

Lestenkoft',  Michael : 60.35 

Prokopeoff,  Peter 60. 35 

Third  class : 

Philimonoff.  Gregory 45. 27 

Merculoff,  George 45. 27 

Kulikulolf,  Evan 45.27 

Rezanzoff,  Innokenty 45. 27 

Nederazoff,  Nicoli 45. 27 

Fourth  class : 

Prokopeoff,  Aufanasia 22. 63 

Merculoff,  Evan 22. 63 

Philimonoff,  Innokenty 22. 63 

ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND,  August  9,  1894. 

We  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the  distribution  of  the  seal- 
ing fund  on  the  above-named  island,  and  that  the  respective  amounts  set  opposite 
the  names  herein  have  been  credited  to  such  natives  on  the  pass  books  of  the  North 
American  Commercial  Company. 

Jos.  B.  CROWLEY, 

Special  Treasury  Agent. 
DAN'L  WKBSTER, 

Agent  North  American  Commercial  Company. 
D.  LESTENKOFF, 

Xai'u-e  Chief. 


28  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

EXHIBIT  H.— Division  money,  St.  Paul  Island,  1894. 

Division  No.  5 :  Distribution  of  community  fund  derived  from  the  taking 
of  fur-seal  skins  from  October  16,  1893,  to  August  4,  1894,  12,830  seal 
skins,  at  50  cents $6, 415. 00 

First  class : 

Bourdovokoffsky ,  Apollon $164. 57 

Buterin,  Karp 164. 57 

Gromoff,  Nicoli 164. 57 

Kochooten,  Jacob 164. 57 

Kozeroff,  Stepan 164. 57 

Krukoff,  Nicoli 164. 57 

Kushiu,  Aggie 164.57 

Mandregin,  Neon 164. 57 

Melevedov,  Anton ' 164. 57 

Nedarazoff,  Martin 164. 57 

Nedarazoff,  Stepan 164. 57 

Oustegoff,  I  *eter 164. 57 

Pankoff,  Parfiri 164  57 

Paranchin,  Daniel 164.57 

Rezoff,  Nicoli 164. 57 

Sedick,  Theodore 164. 57 

Stepetiu,  Elary 164.  57 

Tervakanoft',  Kerrick 164. 57 

Tetoff.  Peter 164. 57 

Volkoff,  Markel 164.57 

3,291.40 

Second  class : 

Artoinanoff,  Kerrick 131. 65 

Arkashoff,  A  rseny 131. 65 

Bogodauoff,  Nicoli 131.65 

Emanoff,  George 131. 65 

Fratis,  John 131. 65 

Glotoff,  John 131.65 

Haberoff,  Paul 131. 65 

Kochooten,  John 131.65 

Kochooten,  Eupheme 131. 65 

Galaktioneff,  Alex 131. 65 

Melevedov,  Simeon 131 . 65 

Melevedov,  Alex 131. 65 

Seduli,  Vassily 131. 65 

Shabolin,  Necbn 131.65 

Stepetin,  Dorofay 131.65 

Shaisnakoff,  Paul '. 131. 65 

Tetoff,  Neon 131.65 

2, 238. 05 

Third  class : 

Hansen,  Alexander 105.  32 

Koznitzoff,  John 105.  32 

Merculiff,  Alex 105.32 

Nozekoff,  Simeon 105.32 

Stepetin,  John 105.  32 

526  60 
ourth  class : 

Kochergiu,  George 30. 00 

Krukoff;  JohnM 30.00 

Krukoff,  John  N 30.00 

Krukoff,  Maxime 30.00 

Sedick,  Philip 30.00 

Shaisnakoff,  Valerian 30.00 

Tetoff,  Zachar 30.00 

210  00 

Special  class : 

Krukoff,  Nicoli  (first  chief) 50.00 

Gromoff,  Nicoli  (second  chief) 50. 00 

100.00 

Due  John  Stepetin  from  division  No.  4 48. 95 

6,415.00 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  29 

DR. 
Prime  skins  accepted,  12,830,  at  50  cents (>,  415. 00 


Cu. 

Twenty  first-class  men,  at  $164.57 :5,  291.  40 

Seventeen  second-class  men,  at  $131.65 2,  238.  05 

Five  third-class  men,  at  $105.32 526.60 

Seven  fourth-class  men,  at  $30 210. 00 

Two  special  class  (chiefs),  at  $50 100.00 

One  amount  due  division  4,  $48.95 48. 95 

6,415.00 

ST.  PAUL  ISLAND,  ALASKA,  August  14,  1894. 

We  hereby  certify  the  foregoing  to  be  a  true  copy  of  the  division  of  the  fund 
derived  from  taking  fur-seal  skins  on  St.  Paul  Island  from  October  16,  1893,  to 
August  4,  1894,  and  that  the  several  amounts  opposite  the  respective  names  have 
been  credited  to  said  natives  on  their  pass  books  by  the  North  American  Commercial 
Company. 

JOSEPH  B.  C  ROWLEY, 

Special  Treasury  Agent. 
J.  STANLEY  BROWN, 

Superintendent  North  American  Commercial  Company. 
NICOLI  KRUKOFF, 

Native  Chief. 


IIKI'nlli  n|-  .KN-I'H  II.  i  RnWLKY.  SPKi  !.\L  TRKASlKY   \<;KNT, 
l;n|l  Till-   VKAIl  isi):,. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  SPECIAL  A<;I:M. 

TuKAsum    DEI>AKTME:VT, 
Washington,  1).  ('.,  Decani  her  1,  /*'/.>. 

SIK:  I  have  tlic  honor  of  submitting1  my  annual  report  on  the  seal 
fisheries  of  Alaska. 

Following -your  instructions  of  May  !>.  I  proceeded  to  San  Francisco, 
Cal..  arriving  there  on  the  17th,  and  on  the  2()th  embarked  on  the  North 
American  Commercial  Company's  steamer  I^akntc,  en  route  for  the  seal 
islands,  accompanied  by  Assistant  Special  Agent  Thomas  10.  Adams. 

\Ve  readied  St.  George  Island  .June  !>.  where  Mr.  Adams  was  placed 
in  charge  temporarily,  relieving  Assistant  Special  Agent  Jacob  10.  Zie- 
bach  during  the  summer.  On  the  10th  of  June  I  proceeded  to  St.  J>aul 
Island,  on  board  the  ("nited  States  revenue  cutter  /Yrr//.  tinding 
Assistant  Special  Agent  James  Judge  in  charge.  He  was  permitted  to 
so  remain  until  September  1,'J.  when  he  was  relieved  by  Special  Agent 
Adams  after  the  return  of  Special  Agent  Ziebach  to  St.  George.  I 
found  on  my  arrival  at  the  seal  islands  the  business  atVairs  of  the  Gov- 
ernment intact. 

NATIVES. 

The  native  inhabitants  had  been  properly  cared  for  during  the  winter. 
Their  health  was  good.  The  mortality  light,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
census  reports  and  the  reports  of  t  he  resident  physicians  <>n  the  islands 
of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  marked  lOxhibit  A. 

The  order  of  the  Department,  that  the  lessees  should  erect  suitable 
water  clo>ets  at  the  duelling  of  each  native  family  on  the  islands,  has 
been  complied  with.  The  villages  undergo  a  thorough  cleaning  both 
spring  and  fall,  and  the  sanitary  condition  is  good. 

The  lessees  have  complied  with  the  terms  of  their  contract  toward 
their  subjects  for  support:  namely,  widows  and  orphans,  and  the  aged 
and  infirm  who  are  unable  to  provide  for  themselves. 

School  was  maintained  on  each  of  the  islands  eight  months  during 
the  past  year,  as  required  by  the  terms  of  the  lease. 


The  sum   expended  out  of  the  appropriation.  *ll>,r>on,  for  the   fiscal 
year  ending  June  .'ill,  lsi)f>.  for  the  support  of  the  natives  on   the  seal 

islands  was  as  follows: 

.    .f  10. '.GO.  !C) 

::,  72*.  r>r> 

n-rk  Chinch  of  Alaska :;,  :5L'f>.  00 


17,  !»xl.r>0 


SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  31 

In  addition  to  this  sum  there  was  expended  in  support  of  these  natives 
derived  from  their  own  earnings,  as  follows: 

On  St.  Paul : 

Division  of  sealers'  community  fund $6,  537.50 

Derived  from  blue  foxes 1,  025. 00 

On  St.  George : 

Division  of  sealers'  community  fund 1,  408.  50 

Derived  from  1>1  no  foxes 2,  685.  00 

Cash  paid  natives  by  North  American  Commercial  Company  for  mis- 
cellaneous labor. .  2,000.00 


Total 13,656.00 

COAL. 

There  was  landed  at  the  islands  370  tons  of  coal,  290  tons  being 
delivered  under  special  contract,  and  80  tons  under  the  terms  of  the 
lease.  The  coal  is  of  fair  quality,  and  sufficient  quantity  for  the  com- 
fort of  the  natives  and  Government  agents  in  charge  of  the  islands. 
The  same  was  distributed  as  follows: 

St.  Paul  Island:  Tons. 

Government  house 10 

Use  of  natives 250 

St.  George  Island : 

Government  house 10 

Use  of  natives 100 

Total 370 

A  house  was  built  on  each  of  the  islands  in  which  to  store  the  coal 
for  native  use,  the  one  on  St.  Paul  Island  having  a  capacity  of  300 
tons;  the  one  on  St.  George,  150  tons.  The  North  American  Commer- 
cial Company  furnished  under  contract  all  materials,  including  lumber, 
hardware,  and  paint,  and  superintended  the  construction  of  the  two 
buildings,  for  $790.  The  natives  on  the  respective  islands  performed  the 
labor  of  erecting  the  same  without  charge  to  the  Government.  The 
coal  is  stored  in  these  buildings  and  it  is  believed  that  they  will  prove 
a  great  saving  in  the  future. 

FURNITURE  FOR  GOVERNMENT  HOUSES. 

The  following  articles  for  the  furnishing  of  the  Government  houses 
were  received : 

St.  Paul  Island : 

One  hundred  and  forty-five  yards  of  carpet $156. 10 

Six  rugs,  to  match,  at  $2.75 16. 50 

One  water  pitcher,  cup,  and  tray 5. 50 

One  Franklin  stove 16.00 

Felt  for  office  desk 1.50 

St.  George  Island: 

One  Franklin  stove 16.  00 

Three  rugs,  at  $2.75 8.25 

One  dust  tray,  one-half  dozen  brooms 1. 85 

Eight  window  shades 7. 00 

One  toilet  set •. 4.00 

One  water  pitcher,  cup,  and  tray 5.50 


Total 238.  20 

BLUE   FOXES.' 

The  past  winter  was  an  exceptionally  long  and  severe  one  at  the  seal 
islands.     There  was  more  snow  fall  than  usual  and  the  ice  remained 


32  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

attached  to  the  shores  much  Jater  than  common.  The  result  was  that 
food  lor  blue  foxes  became  very  scarce  and  many  of  them  starved  to 
death.  Special  Agent  Ziebach  on  St.  George  Island  bought  food  in 
such  quantities  as  he  could  procure  and  fed  to  the  foxes  that  came  to 
the  village  in  search  of  food,  and  in  this  manner  averted  the  death  of 
many  that  would  have  otherwise  perished.  No  foxes  were  trapped  on 
the  islands  during  the  past  winter.  Orders  were  given  to  trap  foxes  on 
both  islands  the  coming  winter,  with  the  further  order  to  kill  all  white 
foxes  found.  This  was  done  to  prevent  the  intermixture  of  the  two 
foxes,  the  pure  blue  being  much  more  valuable. 

Ten  pairs  of  young  blue  foxes  were  captured  on  St.  George  Island  and 
delivered  to  Kudolph  Neumann  of  Uualaska,  in  compliance  with  the 
permission  granted  by  the  Department  to  Messrs.  Neumann  and  Apple- 
gate.  •  Mr.  Applegate  having  failed  to  call  for  or  arrange  for  the  pay- 
ment of  his  portion  of  the  foxes,  the  entire  number  was  delivered  to 
Mr.  Neumann,  who  paid  for  each  fox  the  sum  of  $5.50,  the  50  cents 
being  given  to  the  natives  for  caring  for  the  foxes  from  the  date  of 
their  capture  to  the  date  of  delivery.  The  $110  received  from  Mr. 
Neumann  for  the  20  foxes  secured  by  him  were  placed  to  the  credit  of 
the  several  natives  on  their  pass  books,  in  amounts  corresponding  to 
the  number  of  foxes  taken  by  each. 

MARINE  GUARDS. 

An  armed  boat's  crew  in  charge  of  a  lieutenant  was  landed  on  both 
the  islands  about  September  1,  as  an  additional  guard  to  prevent  raids 
on  the  rookeries.  They  were  given  quarters  in  the  villages  in  accord- 
ance with  Department  instructions. 

The  service  rendered  by  the  American  fleet  in  the  patrol  of  Bering 
Sea,  under  the  command  of  (Japt.  C.  L.  Hooper,  was  most  efficient.  I 
most  heartily  commend  the  Eevenue  Gutter  Service  as  being  capable 
of  performing  this  work,  and  recommend  that  they  be  given  charge 
of  this  work  in  the  future.  Every  courtesy  was  extended  to  me  so 
that  I  was  enabled  to  make  frequent  trips  between  the  islands  in  the 
supervision  of  the  business  thereon. 

SPECIMEN  SEALS. 

In  compliance  with  your  letter  of  May  16,  Mr.  Frederick  W.  True, 
curator  of  mammals  for  the  United  States  National  Museum,  was  per- 
mitted to  visit  the  seal  islands  and  remain  there  throughout  the  sum- 
mer, accompanied  by  an  assistant.  Every  facility  was  given  Mr.  True 
to  enable  him  to  investigate  the  fur  seal,  and  to  study  seal  life  on  and 
about  the  islands.  He  was  permitted  to  take  fifteen  specimen  seals  for 
official  Government  purposes. 

Dr.  Sharp,  of  Philadelphia,  was  permitted  to  take  two  specimen  seals 
for  a  like  purpose. 

Hon.  James  Sheakley,  governor  of  Alaska,  on  his  tour  of  western 
Alaska,  visited  the  seal  islands  in  July,  in  order  to  personally  acquaint 
himself  with  the  true  condition  of  the  seal  herd. 

C.  H.  Townsend,  of  the  United  States  Fish  Gommission,  visited  the 
islands  during  the  summer  for  the  purpose  of  observing,  photographing, 
and  making  charts  of  the  rookeries. 

Capt.  F.  J.  Drake,  of  the  United  States  Fish  Gommission  steamer 
Albatross,  spent  two  weeks  on  the  islands  taking  observations  and 
making  a  plane  table  survey  of  the  rookeries. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  33 


SEALS. 

The  sealing  season  began  on  the  13th  of  June,  after  my  arrival  at  the 
islands.  Very  few  bachelor  seals  hauled  out  until  about  the  20th  of 
June.  The  breeding  bulls  arrived  early  in  May.  The  remainder  of  the 
herd  was  full  three  weeks  later  in  arriving  than  in  former  years.  This 
is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  Hoe  ice  remained  about  the  islands, 
extending  for  miles  out  at  sea,  until  after  the  middle  of  June.  Soon 
after  its  disappearance  the  bachelor  seals  hauled  out  in  goodly  numbers. 
The  cow  herd  came  later  and  apparently  all  at  once.  The  harems  were 
rapidly  formed  and  the  pups  were  born  very  soon  after  the  arrival  of 
the  cows. 

From  August  10,  1894,  to  June  8,  1895,  inclusive,  1,269  seals  were 
taken  on  JSt.  Paul  Island  for  native  food,  and  from  October  20,  1894,  to 
June  3,  1895,  inclusive,  196  seals  were  taken  on  St.  George  Island  for 
a  like  purpose.  During  the  past  season,  closing  August  1, 11,231  seals 
were  taken  on  St.  Paul  by  the  lessees  and  2,315  on  St.  George,  making 
a  total  of  15,011  fur-seal  skins  in  the  salt  houses. 

The  skins  taken  from  seals  killed  for  native  food  in  the  fall  were  taken 
under  the  quota  allotted  for  1894,  and  remained  in  the  salt  houses 
throughout  the  winter.  Blue  foxes  broke  into  the  salt  house  at  St. 
George  in  search  of  food,  and  damaged  11  of  these  skins,  rendering 
them  unfit  for  market.  These  damaged  skins  were  shipped  to  the  col- 
lector of  customs  at  San  Francisco,  Gal.,  as  per  instructions. 

Statements  showing  the  number  of  seals  taken,  date  of  killing,  and 
rookery  from  which  the  same  were  taken,  are  marked  Exhibit  B. 

Summary  of  skins  taken.  fll 

On  St.  Paul  Island: 

For  native  food 1, 269 

By  lessees 11,  231 

On  St.  George  Island : 

For  native  food 196 

By  lessees 2,  315 


Total 15,  Oil 


Skins  accepted  by  lessees 15,  000 

The  15,000  fur-seal  skins  were  shipped  from  the  islands  on  the 
steamer  liertha,  consigned  to  the  North  American  Gommercial  Com- 
pany, at  San  Francisco.  Eeceipts  for  the  same  are  marked  Exhibit  C. 

Distribution  of  community  fund. 

St.  Paul  Island : 

To  12,000  seal  skins,  at  50  cents $6, 250. 00 

T<>  140  seal  skins,  rejected  in  1894,  subsequently  accepted,  but  not  in- 
cluded in  Division  No.  5 70.  00 


6,  320.  00 

By  22  lirst-class  men,  at  $164.38 3,  616.  36 

B.v  1  ~)  second-class  men,  at  $131.52 i  972.  80 

By  4  third-class  men,  at  $105.21 420. 84 

By  7  fourth-class  men,  at  $30 210. 00 

By  first  chief,  $50 ;  and  second  chief,  $50 100.  00 


6,  320. 00 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 3 


34  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

St.  George  Island : 

To  2,500  seal  skins,  at  50  cents $1,  250.  00 


By  7  first-class  men,  at  $67.91 475.  37 

By  8  second-class  men,  at  $54.32 434. 56 

By  6  third-class  men,  at  $40.75 244.  50 

By  1  fourth-class  man,  at  $20.75 20.  75 

By  salaries  to  first  and  second  chief 75.  00 


1,250.00 

For  detailed  statement  of  distribution  of  the  community  fund,  with 
certificate  attached,  see  Exhibit  D. 

QUOTA  NOT   DIFFICULT   TO   OBTAIN. 

It  was  not  found  specially  difficult  to  obtain  the  maximum  quota, 
15,000  seals,  at  the  islands  this  season.  It  need  not  be  taken  for  granted, 
however,  that  a  like  number  can  be  as  easily  taken  the  coming  year  or 
at  any  time  in  the  future  under  the  present  regulations  governing 
pelagic  sealing.  It  will  be  remembered  that  pending  the  modus  vivendi 
no  seals  were  taken  in  Bering  Sea,  and  only  7,500  male  seals  were  killed 
on  the  islands.  A  cow  could  then  go  to  sea  for  food  in  safety,  and 
return  to  the  rookery  to  suckle  her  young.  Thus  the  pups  born  in  1891, 
1892,  and  1893  were  properly  nurtured  during  their  infancy,  and  did  not 
die  of  starvation  on  account  of  their  mothers  having  been  killed  at  sea. 
The  male  portion  of  them  came  of  kill  able  age  last  year  and  this.  Fully 
50  per  cent  of  the  seals  driven  to  the  killing  grounds  this  season  were 
of  killable  size.  This  exceptionally  large  percentage  is  accounted  for  in 
no  other  way  except  in  that  just  given. 

NEW  KILLING  GROUNDS. 

A  new  killing  ground  was  established  for  Halfway  Point,  at  the  first 
lake,  one-half  mile  south  of  the  rookery.  The  killing  ground  estab- 
lished for  English  Bay,  Tolstoi,  and  Middle  Hill  is  at  a  small  lake  near 
Telegraph  Hill,  not  to  exceed  a  mile  from  either  rookery.  Since  the 
establishment  of  these  killing  grounds  there  is  not  a  drive  on  St.  Paul 
Island  to  exceed  a  mile  in  length. 

OVERDRIVING. 

The  natives  are  accompanied  on  almost  every  drive  by  one  of  the 
assistant  agents  in  charge  of  the  islands  or  myself,  and  absolute  cau- 
tion is  taken  in  every  instance  to  avoid  overdriving.  If  seals  be  given 
their  time,  they  can  be  driven  a  mile,  or  even  two,  in  the  cool  hours  of 
nighttime  with  but  slight  fatigue.  It  has  been  contended  that  many 
seals  die  by  reason  of  being  turned  back  into  the  sea  from  the  killing 
ground  immediately  after  the  drive,  while  in  a  heated  condition.  This 
is  an  erroneous  idea.  Evidence  to  the  contrary  appears  at  every  drive 
made. 

Two  drives  were  made  from  Middle  Hill  and  Tolstoi,  and  as  many  as 
1,000  to  1,500  seals  were  turned  back  from  each  of  these  killings  and 
driven  directly  into  the  lagoon.  A  very  large  proportion  of  them 
remained  in  this  water  as  long  as  ten  days  before  returning  to  the  rook- 
eries. They  were  watched  constantly,  and  not  a  single  seal  was  found 
dead  in  these  waters  or  along  its  shores  as  a  result.  At  nearly  every 
killing  of  seals  from  the  Keef,  Zapaduie,  Halfway,  and  Northeast 
Point  rookeries,  a  large  proportion  of  the  seals  turned  back  went 
directly  from  the  killing  ground  to  the  rookery  from  which  they  were 
driven,  without  going  into  the  water,  and  took  up  their  places  there  as 
though  they  had  never  been  disturbed. 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  35 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

The  result  of  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  the  past  two  years  already 
shows  a  marked  decrease  in  the  breeding  seals  on  the  rookeries.  There 
were  fewer  cows  in  the  harems,  and  on  several  of  the  rookeries  there 
were  "  breaks"  or  "  spaces"  wholly  unoccupied  that  had  never 
appeared  before.  It  is  evident  that  the  cow  herd  can  not  long  with- 
stand the  onslaught  of  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea.  It  was  believed,, 
when  double  the  number  of  sealing  vessels  came  into  the  sea  August! 
than  were  there  last  year,  that  double  the  number  of  seals  would  be 
taken.  But  not  so.  JSoi  was  it  the  fault  of  the  sealer.  It  was  the 
scarcity  of  seals.  They  were  not  there  in  sufficient  numbers  to  be 
taken,  although  the  tragedy  of  last  year  was  reenacted. 

At  the  time  of  my  leaving  the  islands,  dead  and  dying  pups  were  to 
be  found  on  every  hand.  During  the  month  of  October,  22,054  dead 
seal  pups  were  counted  on  the  rookeries  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul  and 
6,012  on  St.  George.  They  were  distributed  in  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  breeding  seals  on  the  several  rookeries,  thus  showing  conclu- 
sively that  their  death  was  produced  by  starvation,  and  not  by  an* 
epidemic'  on  any  special  rookery. 

The  breeding-seal  herd  has  been  reduced  to  such  proportion  that  they 
can  now  be  counted  with  comparative  accuracy.  I  made  the  count  as 
follows : 

St.  Paul  Island : 

Breeding  cows 78,  696 

Bulls 4,  372 

St.  George  Island  : 

Breeding  cows 21, 240 

Bulls 1,180 

Capt.  F.  A.  Drake,  of  the  United  States  Fish  Commission  steamer 
AUmtrosx,  also  made  a  count  of  the  breeding  seals  on  the  islands  at  the 
time  of  making  his  plane- table  survey  of  the  rookeries,  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  by  the  aid  of  the  survey  he  may  be  able  to  give  a  more  accu- 
rate count  of  the  number  than  I  can.  But  I  am  certain  that  if  I  err  it 
is  in  overstating  and  not  understating  the  actual  number. 

EXCESS   OF   MALE   LIFE. 

There  is  a  surplus  of  available  bulls  on  the  islands.  As  the  cow  herd 
decreases  the  bulls  increase.  There  is  now  a  large  per  cent  of  male  life 
that  is  a  detriment  rather  than  a  benefit  to  the  breeding  grounds. 
Nearly  50  per  cent  of  the  bulls  of  breeding  age  were  unable  to  procure 
a  single  cow  with  which  to  start  a  harem.  A  large  number  of  bulls  had 
from  one  to  four  only  in  their  harems. 

The  idle  bulls  loiter  about  the  boundaries  of  the  breeding  rookeries, 
intercepting  the  cows  as  they  come  and  go  to  feed,  keeping  up  a  constant 
warfare.  The  cows  are  thus  annoyed  and  harassed  throughout  the 
season,  when  they  should  be  permitted  to  rest  and  care  for  their  young. 
Every  cow  that  leaves  the  island  is  pursued  by  one  or  more  of  these 
big,  strong,  young  bulls.  How  far  this  pursuit  is  kept  up  can  not  be 
determined.  It  is  believed  by  some  that  this  is  the  cause  of  the  cows 
going  so  far  out  at  sea  before  stopping  to  procure  food,  and  it  seems 
plausible  enough. 

If  regulations  can  not  be  made  at  once  to  prohibit  pelagic  sealing  in 
Bering  Sea,  there  is  but  one  remedy  left,  that  of  taking  such  number 
of  seals  on  the  islands  as  to  reduce  the  herd  to  such  proportions  as  will 
make  the  business  of  sealing  at  sea  unprofitable. 

The  large  number  of  schooners  now  engaged  in  that  business  will  be 
compelled  to  seek  other  employment.  The  business  once  stopped,  the 


36  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

taking  of  seals  on  the  islands  could  be  abated  and  the  herd  permitted 
to  rest  and  recuperate.  I  most  earnestly  urge  that  this  course  be  taken 
without  unnecessary  delay. 

The  social  and  business  relations  existing  between  the  agents  of  the 
company  and  the  Government  at  the  islands  the  past  year  have  been 
most  pleasant. 

Respectfully,  yours.  Jos.  15.  CROWLKY. 

Special  Treasury  Agent  in  Charge  of  the  Fur  Seal  TxlantlK.  Ahmka. 
Hon.  JOHN  G.  CARLISLE, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury,   Washington,  I).  C. 


OFFICE  OF  SPECIAL  AGKNT,  TREASTRY  DEPARTMENT, 

St.  George  Inland,  Alaska,  October  10,  1895. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  On  October  2  and  8  I  made  a  careful  count  of  the  dead  fur-seal 
pups  on  the  several  rookeries  on  St.  George  Island  and  found  the  following  number: 

Zapadnie  rookery 2,  083 

North  rookery 1,  559 

Starry  Arteef  rookery .,  1, 131 

East  rookery 986 

Little  East  rookery 253 


Total 6,  012 

The  count  was  made  systematically  and  its  correctness  can  be  absolutely  depended 
upon.  The  number  represents  only  the  actual  dead  bodies  and  indisputable  remains 
of  others  that  foxes  and  the  elements  had  more  or  less  destroyed.  All  trace  of  those 
that  died  during  the  fore  part  of  August  had  been  washed  away.  On  all  the  rook- 
eries were  seen  a  great  many  seal  pups  that  were  very  emaciated,  and  it  was  only  a 
question  of  a  few  days  before  they  too  would  die  of  starvation.  Some  were  so  thin 
and  weak  that  they  did  not  have  the  strength  to  move,  while  along  the  outskirts  of 
the  herd — as  we  drove  the  seals  slowly  to  one  side  of  the  rookeries — were  hundreds 
of  weaklings  that  could  scarcely  keep  up  with  the  balance  of  the  herd.  A  great 
proportion,  if  not  all  of  them,  will  die.  In  no  case  was  it  necessary  to  drive  the  seals 
over  200  yards  to  enable  a  count  to  be  made.  For  three  weeks  previous  to  making 
the  count  I  made  frequent  visits  to  and  examinations  of , the  rookeries,  and  on  all 
could  see  the  carcasses  of  seal  pups  on  all  parts,  and  numerous  among  the  live  seals 
would  be  seen  the  emaciated  forms  of  others  slowly  dying  from  starvation.  Of 
course  it  was  impossible  to  make  a  count  of  the  weaklings,  but  my  judgment  would 
say  that  on  the  five  rookeries  on  St.  George  Island  not  less  than  800  will  die  for  want 
of  sustenance  between  the  10th  and  31st  of  October. 

There  is  but  one  reason  for  this  deplorable  and  even  criminal  destruction  of  young 
seal  life,  and  that  is  the  killing  in  Bering  Sea  of  the  females  that  gave  them  birth 
and  on  whom  they  are  dependent  for  sustenance  until  they  are  old  enough  to  main- 
tain themselves,  which  is  in  three  or  a  little  over  three  months;  and  just  so  long  as 
sealing  in  Bering  Sea  is  permitted  under  the  present  regulations,  just  so  long  will 
this  destructive  waste  of  fur-seal  life  continue.  Sealing  vessels  commence  the  work 
of  exterminating  the  seal  herd  in  Bering  Sea  on  August  1,  and  in  two  weeks  after 
you  can  see  the  rookeries  dotted  all  over  with  dead  pups,  and  the  number  keeps 
increasing  day  by  day  until  a  great  proportion  of  the  number  born  die  from  starva- 
tion, their  mothers  having  been  killed  at  sea,  where  they  had  gone  for  food,  by  the 
sealers.  It  is  an  established  fact  that  the  male  seal,  with  but  few  exceptions,  goes 
but  a  short  distance  for  food  during  the  season  the  seals  are  on  the  island,  while  the 
female  travels  far  outside  the  limit  for  food  and  rest,  and  is  then  killed  in  great 
numbers  by  the  sealers.  Something  could  be  gained  by  the  extension  of  the  60-mile 
limit  to  110  or  125  miles,  but  a  more  desirable  and  practical  measure  of  protection  to 
the  young  and  female  seal  life  would  be  the  addition  of  the  months  of  August  and 
September  to  the  closed  season  in  Bering  Sea.  The  last  suggestion  would  prolong 
the  fur-seal  life  a  few  years,  but  nothing  of  a  temporary  or  restrictive  nature  will  be 
of  an  established  benefit  to  the  continuation  and  rehabilitation  of  the  seal  herd  but 
the  absolute  prohibition  of  killing  fur  seal  in  open  water.  The  two  years  of  sealing 
in  Bering  Sea  has  been  terribly  destructive  of  seal  life,  and  if  it  is  continued  two  or 
three  years  longer  the  fur-seal  herd  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  will  be  practically  exter- 
minated. 

Respectfully,  yours,  JACOB  E.  ZIRBACH, 

Treasury  Agent  in  Charge  of  St.  George  Island. 

Hon.  JOSEPH  B.  CROWLKY, 

Special  Treasury  Agent  for  the  Seal  Fisheries  of  Alaska,  Robinson,  III. 


Date. 


1895. 
Sept.  I'll 
83 
28 

Oct.  6 
ti 
8 
8 
8 
8 
2 
10 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIUILOF    ISLANDS.  37 

Count  of  dead  seals,  St.  I'aul  Inland.  Alaska. 

Rookery.  Pups.       Cows.       Hulls.      Tut;»l. 


Ivrlavif 854  7 

Lukannon 1.  :;»T  8 

Lagoon ::»K)  2 

Polavinii 1,970  '2 

(Jar  botch 1,514  7 

Zapaduie 5,  231  15 

Kiiiilisli  Bay :;s  1  -j 

Tolstoi..... 2,582  8 

Reef |  3,376  j  25 

Sea  Lion   Uo<;k 361     

Northeast  Point 4.017  25 

Total...                                                                                .1  21,933  101 


861 
1,355 

303 
1,972 
1,523 
5,  249 

384 
2,591 
3,40» 

361 
4,046 


20       22, 054 


The  above  table  shows  the  number  of  dead  seal  pups,  cows,  aud  bulls  found  upon 
the  rookeries  of  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska,  and  actually  counted  between  the  dates  of 
September  23,  1895,  and  October  10,  1895. 

TIIOS.  V.  ADAMS, 
Special  Agent,  Treasury  Department. 


EXHIBIT  A. 
Census  of  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska,  June  30,  189o. 


Name  and  relationship. 


Place  of  birth. 


Age 


Northeast  Point 

St.  Michaels 

do 

St.  Paul 


Remarks, 


Wide 


Family  1 — 4  individuals : 

Artomonoff,  Kerrick,  husband . . . 

Ajtomonoff,  Alexandra,  wife 

Ivanoff.  Ardokia,  sister-in-law  . . 
Prokopiet,  Auxenia.  daughter. . . 

Family  2—1!  individuals: 

Arkashon".  Arsi'iiv,  husband do 

Arkashoff.  Mariana,  wife '•  Atka 

Stepetin.  John,  stepson !  Unalaska ' 

Family  3—3  individuals: 

Bogodanoff,  Xicoli,  husband St.  George 23 

Bogodanoff,  ( hilita,  wife ; do 28 

Bogodanoff,  Mary,  sister I do 20 

Family  4—4  individuals: 

BourdukoiVskx .  Apollon,  husband ;  Unalaska  . .     41 

Bourdukottsky,  Chionia,  wife St.  Paul 34 

Bourdukoffsky,  Peter,  son .do 15 

Bourdukotisky,  Oulita.  daughter do 10 

Family  5—6  individuals: 

Baterin,  Karp,  husband St.  Paul ;      41 

Buterin,  Parascovia,  wife Tualaska 39 

Sedick,  Constantine,  stepson St.  Paul 7 

Sedick,  Zahar,  orphan do j        9 

Mezeekin,  Mary,  niece do ' '      22 

Mezeekin,  Vassa do a2$  Daughter  of  Marv. 

Family  6—5  individual* : 

Emanoff,  (ieorge,  husband do 

Emanoff,  Catherine,  wife do 

Emanolf,  Mary,  daughter do 

Emanoff,  J  ohn.  son j do 

Ko/nit/.ott',  John,  nephew do 

Family  7 — 5  individuals: 

Fratis,  John,  husband Ladrone  Islands 

Frat  is,  A nkolina.  wife Unalaska 

Fratis,  John,  son St.  Paul 

Fratis,  Simeon,  son '     . .  .do  . . 


Fratis,  Argrah'na,  daughter ' do  . . 

Family  8—3  individuals: 

Glotoff,  John,  husband '  St.  Paul . 

Glotoff,  Avdotia,  wife do 

Glotoff,  Mary,  mother do 

Family  9—3  individuals: 

Gromoff,  Nicoli,  husband j  Attu 

Gromoff.  Oulrana,  wife St.  Paul . 

Sediek,  Elizabeth do  .. 


a  Months. 


Clothes  furnished   by  com- 
pany. 


38  SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Census  of  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska,  June  SO,  1S95— Continued. 


Name  and  relationship. 


Place  of  birth. 


Remarks. 


Family  lo — 4  individuals : 

Galaxtioneff,  Alexander,  husband ;  Atka 

Galaxtioneff,  Martha,  wife Unalaska 

Vicolof,  Claudia,  half-sister ;  St.  George  .  .<. 

Vicolof,  Alexandra |  St.  Paul 

Family  11—3  individuals: 


Sitka 

St.  Paul.... 
...do.. 


Kadiak 

Unalaaka 

St.  Paul... 


....do 

Unalaska . . 
St.  Paul 


Hanson,  Alexander,  husband 

Hanson,  Lukina,  wife 

Kushin,  Nestor,  stepson 

Family  12—3  individuals: 

Haberoff,  Paul,  husband 

Haberoff,  Agranna,  wife 

Shabolin,  Agranna,  adopted  daughter. 
Family  13—3  individuals : 

Kochooten,  John,  husband 

Kochooten,  Tatiaua,  wife 

Kochooten,  Mark,  son 

IFamily  14—7  individuals : 

Kochooten,  Jake,  husband d 

Kochooten,  Feoronia,  wife |  Unga 

Kochooteu, «  ulita,  daughter St.  Paul 

Kochooten,  Ellen,  da  -lighter i do 

Kochooten,  Theodore,  son j do 

Kochooten,  Lariou,  son do 

Lodoshnikoff,  Mat  alia,  stepdaughter. .  j  Unga 

Family  15 — 3  individuals: 

Kochooteu,  Eupheme,  husband St.  Paul 

Kochooteu,  Pelogia,  wife Un;tlaska  . 

Kochooten,  Trefoil,  nephew St.  Paul 

Family  16 — 4  individuals: 

Kochergin,  George,  soi 


Tetoff,  Feclusia,  widowed  mother 


Kurile  Islands 


Tetoff,  Irene,  sister St.  Paul 

Tetoff,  Sophia,  sis'.er do 

Family  17 — 4  individuals: 

Kozerotf,  Stepau,  husband ..'. Unalaska  . . 

Kozeroff,  Auasta?ia,  wife do 

Kozerotf,  lonally,  son St.  Paul 

Kozeroff,  Alexandra,  daughter | d 

Family  18—4  individuals: 

Kfukoff,  Nicoli,  husband 

Krukoff.  Catherine,  wife 

Krukoff,  Metro  tan,  son 

Krukoff,  Oustmia,  daughter 

Family  19—4  individuals: 

Kmkoff.  Maximo,  husband Sitka 


Krukoff,  Feoctesta,  wife 


Sitka 

Atka 

St.  Paul 

...do  .. 


St.  Paul. 
...do  .. 


Krukoff,  John  M.,  son 

Krukoff,  Condrat i 

Family  20-4  individuals: 

Maudrigan,  Neon,  father I  St.  George 

Mandrigan,  Mary,  daughter St.  Paul 

Maudrigan,  Zoe.  daughter i do 

Maudrigan,  Innokenty,  son do 

Family  21—4  individuals: 

ftfercnliff,  Alexandra,  husband 

Merculiff,  Agafla,  wife 

Merculiff,  Paul,  son » 

Merculiff,  Paul,  brother 

Family  22—5  individuals: 

Melividov,  Anton,  father 


Melividov,  Alexandra,  daughter 

Melividov,  Olga,  daughter 

Melividov,  Mary,  daughter 

Melividov,  Alexandra,  mother 

Family  23— 3  individuals: 

Melividov,  Alexander,  husband 

Melividov,  Salome,  wife 

Melividov,  An  ton, son 

Family  24—4  individuals: 

Melividov,  Simeon,  husband 

Melividov,  Alexandra,  wife. 


Melividov,  Margret.  daughter 

Melividov,  Christopher,  sou 

Family  25 — 5  individuals: 

Nederazoff.  Stepan,  husband 

Nederazotf,  Alexandra,  wife 

Nederazoff,  Mary,  niece 

Nederazoff,  Mary 


Kodiak 


St.  Paul 


.do 

.do 


California. .. 
St.  Paul  . . 


Sitka 

Akootan 

St.  Paul 

...do.. 


Hopoff,  Neketa do 

a  Months. 


34 

20  ! 
a8  : 

43 

40 
1!) 
1C 

(i 
2 
15 

51 
44 

8 

17 
37 


Clothes    furnished    by  com- 
pany. 
Daughter  of  Claudia. 


St.  Paul 

....do 

....do 

.'..do  ... 


St.  Paul 

Attu 

St.  Paul 

...do  ... 


Provisions  f  urn  is  bed  by 
Government.  Clothing 
for  widow  and  daughters 
furnished  by  company. 


This  family  is  supported  by 
the  company.  John  M. 
draws  clothing  on  Gov- 
ernment (inters. 


Clothes    furnished   by   com- 
pany. 
Do. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS.  39 

Ce.ii8u*  of  St.  raid  Island,  Alaska.  June  30,  1895—  Continued. 


Naint*  and  relationship. 

Place  of  birth. 

Age. 

Remarks. 

Family  26—  4  individuals: 
Mrdrra/otl,  Martiu,  husband  

St  Paul 

40 
37 
15 

8 

18 
18 

31 
27 
4 
60 

32 
32 
6 
3 
12 

36 
33 

66 
60 
23 
16 
17 

47 
40 
7 
6 
4 
9 
16 

52 
54 
14 

4 

28 
25 

1 

59 
15 

31 
24 
5 

2| 

24 
21 
2 

41 
35 
26 

5 
5 

25 
20 

$ 

30 
34 
16 

50 
41 

J 

45 
28 
10 
13 

Clothing  furnished  by  com- 
pany. 

* 
Adopted  daughter. 

Clothing  furnished  by  com- 
pany. 
Sou  of  Agrafina. 

Clothing  furnished  bv  com- 
pany. 

Sitka 

>i    (  icor're  

do  

Family  '27—1'  individual-  : 

No/.ekotf,  Anastasia,  wifi-  
Family  2S  —  4  individuals: 

St    1'aiil 

St  George 

OuMi^off,  Parasrovia.  wife  
Oust  i<rotr  Nicl  son 

St.  Paul  
do  

()usti"<>tV,  Stcpaiiida.  mother  
Family  2!)  -5  individuals: 

St  George 

St  Paul 

P'inkolV  ()l|rii    wife 

St.  George      

St  Paul 

do 

Shaisnekoff  Geor<>'»' 

do      

Family  30—2  individuals: 

St.  Paul      

Family  31  —  5  individuals: 
K.'srtr.  Kcv.  Nicoli.  husband  

Sitka    . 

do 

Kodiak 

JJarka        

Atka 

family  3-  —  7  individuals: 

St  Paul 

Unala^ka 

Snlu-k,  Mary,  daughter  
Sedick  Oustinia  daiiirht*'r 

Si   1'aul            

do  

do 

do  

do 

Family  33—4  individuals: 

Kodiak  

Seduli   FliyibHh  wife 

St  Paul 

Mt'/<H'k*i7i   Ivan  adopted  sou 

do    

Family  ;*4  —  3  individuals: 
Shabolin,  Necon,  husband  
Shabolin,  Feocla  wife 

St.  Paul              

St.  George  

St  Paul 

Family  :<5—  2  individuals: 
Shaisnekoff,  Paul,  uncle  

St  Paul 

do 

Family  36-4  individuals: 

St  Paul 

1  '  1  1  a  1  as  k  a              ... 

St  Paul 

do 

Family  37-3  individuals: 
Stepeton  Dorafav,  husband  

St.  Paul  

st  (  ieorire 

Stepeton  Araasili  son 

St.  Paul  

Family  38—5  individuals: 
Terrakanoff  Kerrick  husband 

St.  Paul 

Terrakan6ff,  A  nna  wife  

Sitka  

St  Paul 

N  t'dfra/.otl    Alcsie  

...do  .. 

Shane  Klef«»ry 

do 

Family  39—4  individuals  : 
Tetoff,  Xeon.  h  usband  
Tetoff   A'-ralina  wife 

St.  Paul  

Unalaska 

Tt-totr.  Simeon,  son  

St.  Paul  

Tetoll  Zahar  hi-other 

do 

Familv40-3  individuals: 
Tetoff  Peter  hushand 

St  Paul 

Tetoff.  Neaey,  wife  
Tetoff,  Alexandra,  sister  

St.  Geor«'-e 

St.  Paul  

Family  41     R  individuals: 
Volkoff,  Markel   husband  

Atka                        

\  <>lk<>H'   \lc\andra  wife 

Volkoff,  Techou,  son 

St.  Paul 

Volkotf  Arifa  son 

do 

Merculiff  tlohu  son 

do 

Family  42—4  individuals: 
Balakshin   Matrona  widow 

Ciial  ask  a 

Shaposhnikoff  1'arascovia  .... 

St.  Paul 

liookovishnikoff,  Anna,  orphan  

do  

Rookovishuikotf,  Stepan,  orphan  .  . 

...do.. 

40  SEAE     LIFE    ON    THE    1'KlliILOF    ISLANDS. 

<>/<></.•>  u/  *t.  J'aiil  Ixlund,   .lldaL'd,  JimcuC.  Av'/.~- — C'oli t  i 


Faimlv  4:;    -1   imli\  idual  : 

P,ellai:la/.ott.  F.lltMt.  widow   

Si.  Paul    DU 

Famil  \  44     "•  indh  idua  1-  : 

Koshovnikotr,  Avdotia,  widow  

St.  Paul  .-                                 ::i 

I\  osho\  in  koll'.   1'a  ill.  si  'ii 

do  11 

Mer.Miliil.  Marfn.  nephew  ... 

d<>  r.1 

Family  4.'i     »'•  ii:di\  iduuls: 

Kii/li.tr.  Para.M-ovia.  witlow  

Pnalaska..                           :j»i 

v;,      l'tul                                                            ^ 

K.p/lot:    Nicnli    son 

do                                                 ti 

Ko/lotl.  Anton,  son. 

."."do                                               1 

SerebunkoH',  i  Iliia.  sister. 

.  .  .do    :;u 

Serebunkotl.  Kepsinmiia  

Famih  4f,     •_'  individuals: 

KrukoiV.  Anna,  widow  

St.  I'aul    I".) 

Ko/erutr.  Sim.iii].  e.  adopted  dau-hU'r 

.tin                                            4 

Familv  47     '1  individual*  : 

Ki-iikiiir    Natalia    \\idow 

St.  I'aul                                         41 

KniUotl.  .John  .\..  st.n      .... 

....do  ..                                        14 

I-'ainilv  -IS     4    individuals: 

l'<.]mti.    A  Viloti;,,   widow   

Atka  :;.". 

I  '(>!  )     jj         \\-T-"     in  -    t        1)11      lit 

s;]    i>-ml                                       •, 

I'u|>'itt'.  Alexander,  daimlifcr  

do    ,;  J 

r.alaksliin.   Anna,  dau^litfi-  

...do  Id 

F:nnil\   4'.»     'J  imH\  id  nals  : 

Til  pott.  A  x'anasia.  \\  idnw  

St.  Paul...                              4!i 

Shut/.aj^ali,  1  >a  ria.  orphan   

do                                       14 

.Family  5U-1  indi\  idual  : 

I'ffshn  i  kolt.  \  a>-i  !  is\  .  \\  ido  w     

.  .  .  .  do  :tr. 

Fannl  \    "i  1      '2  i  ndi  vid  uals  : 

liookovisluifkot)'.  A  noia,  widow.  . 

1'nnlaska...                           L'lt 

St     I'aul                                              "i 

If  i1. 

lamih  ,VJ     1  individual: 

Ke/.an/oll'.  Anna.  \\  iiln\\  

St.  Micha.-ls  til 

Family  ".:;  -I!  individual-  : 

.•><•!  1  irk  .  1  >a  ria.  widow  

I'nala.ska  :,i 

Koclioot.-n.  Kllcii.  daii-ht.T  

St.  Paul  :;i 

Ko,'li(,ut.-n./cnntia.dan-littT  

do  -ji; 

Faniih  f>4     '_'  individuals: 

'lY-nvntova.  Anna,  widow  

...do  ....         Tf) 

T<Tn-nto\  a.  A  nna.  dau"lilci-  

...do  .  .                                      4'J 

F.-m.ih  5r>—  -J  individuals: 

VolUoiV.    I'.ll.-n.  aunt    ... 

St.  Paul  41 

Knsliin.  Mavra.   ni.-n-  

-.   d«.  ..                                  14 

Faniilv  .'.ti     li   indi\  iduals: 

Ku.-liin.  Marx  .  >_rias>  u  id.iu  

St     llror"!-                                                  I!" 

Ku^liin.  Mii-hai-1.  son  .. 

St.'  Paul".                                  ]ii 

OlM'H  A  N    CIKLS    AT  Sf'HooL   IN 

r.NAl.ASKA    IJKLONdINC 

Scdick.  A  vdotia 

St    Paul                                        14 

Krukoll.   Liikt-ria  

Unalaska  18 

Ko/nit/oli;   Ayatia  

St.  I'aul  17 

Mi-rriiliir.  L.-il.otl  

do     1!! 

I  \-  ,  1  1  1  "  1  1     A  na  s  t  a  s  i  a  ... 

..    «)..  -  17 

/akaroil.   Frr,.l<,sia  

do  It! 

/at  /inaliotl'.   A  u  \i-ii  i  a 

.      ilo     .                                        11 

Fl'iltis.    Kllril   .  . 

.    do                                 i:; 

L'i     Dauyiit.-:-  ol   Ol-a  >. 


14       I>ra 


<i  Moni  li    . 

I;K(  \pirri  ATION. 

:.(i       Fi-malc  adults.     .                                           72 

I  finales  li.-tuccn  ,r>  and  17  yi-ars ',M 

lii'.i       Fciualc«  undfi- 5  \ears  ....' 15 

120 

•J('7         Man  ,aurs     2 

Kii  tli- (5 

....    IL'ii        D.-aths 2 

,^7        1  >«-pai  t  urrs  IVoni    Island ....  1 

Net  increase  in  population  from  June  :!(>,  1MU, 

.     ::::          to  .1  une  ::o.  18H.">. . .  3 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

<'<-H*H*  of  St.  George  Inland,  Alaxka,  .hint- .'>(>,  IS95. 


41 


relationship. 


Family  1—3  individuals: 

Galanin,  Pai  fire,  husband 

Galanin.  Buphronia,  wife , 

Galanin.  Klexia.  son 

Family  2— 3  individuals: 

Gorokoff.  Corniel,  husband 

Gorokoll.  Katlierine.  wile 

( lalanin,  Alexander,  adopted  son 

Family  3- 2  individuals: 

Kulikuloff.  Kvan,  widower 

/acbaroti.  Kmanuel.  adopted  son 

Family  4-3  individuals: 

Lestnikoff,  Demitri.  widower 

Lestnikoff.  Anna,  daughter 

Meivulitr,  Mark,  adopted  son i 

Family  5 — 4  individuals: 

Leatnikoff,  Michael,  bachelor ' 

LestnikolV.  Flizeheth,  mother ; 

Lestnikoff.  Mary,  sister j 

Lestnikotl',  Sarah,  sister 

Family  6—  ti  individuals: 

Lekanoll',  Stepan.  husband 

Lekanoll'.  Pelegia.  wife 

Lekanoff.  Anatole.  son 

LekanotV.  Sergius,  son 

Lekanoff.  Sarah,  daughter 

LekanotV.  Mariana,  dauyhter 

Family  7— 6  individuals: 

Merculiff.  Evan,  bachelor 

Merculitl'.  Vasalisa,  mother 

Merculiff.  Avdotia.  sister 

Merculiff.  Elexandra,  sister 

Merculiff.  Xicoli,  brotlier 

Merciilin".  Helena,  sister 

Family  8—6  individuals: 

MerculitV.  -Joseph,  bachelor 

Merculiff.  Euphronia.  mother 

Merculiff,  George,  brother 

Merculiff,  Helena,  sister 

Merculiff.  Evan,  brother 

Merculiff,  Marfa.  sister 

Family  9 — 5  individuals  : 

Malavansky.  Xicoli,  bachelor 

Malavansky .  Uepsimia,  sister 

Malavansky,  Stepenida.  niece 

Malavansky.  Pe.ter.  nephew 

Malavansky,  Vassa.  sister 

Family  10-4  individuals: 

Nederazoff.  Xicoli.  bachelor 

Nederazott',  Evgenia,  mother 

Nederazoff.  Melania,  sister 

Nederazotf.  Esadore.  brother 

Family  11—4  individuals: 

Onstigoff,  Elexia,  husband 

Oustigoff,  Marfa,  wife 

Oustigoff,  Alexandra,  daughter 

Oustigoff.  Stepineda,  daughter 


22 

17 
a  3 

39 
40 


25 
18 

26 

26 

4 

3 

I 

03 


Name  ami  relationsh 


Family  1'J— I!  individuals: 

Oustigoff,  ^nnoen,  husband 

Oustigoff,  Mary,  wife 

Oustigoff.  Anfesa.  daughter 

Family  i:i-  (i  individuals: 

Philomanoff.  Koff,  husband 

1'hilomanoff.  Flita,  wife 

Philomanoll.  Gregoire,  .son 

I'hiloiiianoff.  At'gaiiia,  daughter 

Philomanoff.  Demit  ri.  son 

Oustigoff.  Susanna,  adopted  daughter. . 
Family  14— (i  individuals: 

Philonmnoff,  Simoen,  husband 

Philomanoff,  Avdotia.  wife 

Philomanoff,  Innokenty,  sont 

Philomanoff,  Fedosia,  daugther 

rhilomanolV,  /ova.  daughter 

IMiilomanoff.  -I  o-scph,  son 

Familj7  15 — 2  individuals: 

Prokapieff.  Peter,  husband *. . 

Prokapieff,  Stepenida,  wife 

Family  10—5  individuals: 

Philomanoff,  Andronic,  husband 

Philomanoff  /enobia.  wife 

Philomanoff,  Marian,  daughter 

PhilomanotV.  Mary,  daughter 

Philomanoff.  Leonti.son  .. 


A-.-. 


31 
18 
a3 

50 
3:5 
22 
21 


18 


30 
35 
16 
7 
20 

17 

41 

21 

4 

45 

25 

2 

a  6 


Family  17 — 3  individuals: 

Reianzoff,  Innofcenty,  bachelor 17 

Re/.anzoff.  Fedosia,  mother 51 

Re7.an7.off,  Serephina.  sister 7 

Family  18— H  individuals  : 

Rexanzoff,  Peter,  husband 4» 

Rezanzoff,  Matrona.  wife 53 

Ke/.an/.off.  Katiaiua.  daughter '  11 

Family  19—3  individuals  : 

Swet/.off,  Enstin.  liushand 44 

S  wet /off,  Christine,  wife, 37 

SwetzotF,  George,  son 9 

Family  '20—2  individuals : 

Galanin,  Okalina.  widow 32 

Galanin,  Evan,  son 13 

I  Family  21—3  individuals: 

Pniloinanoff,  Parascova,  widow 31 

Philomanoff.  Pelegia,  daughter 5 

Philomanoff.  Fecla,  davighter |  a6 

Family  2'J— 4  individuals: 

Shane.  Riessa,  widow 43 

Shane,  I'leta.  daughter 26 

Shane.  Michael,  son 7 

Merculiff,  Stepan,  nephew 4 

Family  23—2  individuals: 

Swetzoff,  Polexania.  widow 35 

Swetzoff.  Paul,  son 3 


a  Months. 


RECAPITULATION. 


Families 23 

Individuals 88 

Males 40 

Females  ..  .48 


Females  betweeen  6  and  16  years  ............      ft 

Females  under  6  years  .....  '  ..................     11 

Females  over  16  years  .......................     28 


Males  between  (5  and  16  years 9 

Males  under  6  years 9 

Males  over  16  years 22 

40 


Sealers  ami  families,  supported  by  the  Govern- 
ment .......................................     76 

Widows  and  orphans,  supported  by  company    12 


42  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE     I'KIIULOF    ISLANDS. 

l!< }>'»•(  of  thf  resident  physician. 

ST.    I'AII.  ISLAND.  Jinn'.    /.    /.s'.'/.T. 

I>1  \i;  Su::  The  resident  physician  respect  fully  submits  the  following  report  on 
the  ])iil)lic  health  of  St.  1'anl  Island  diirinu  the  year  ending  .hint'  1,  1X!).">: 

Two  epidemics  have  visited  the  island.  The  lirsi  in  ( )etober,  of  iiUluen/a;  the 
other,  varicella,  occurred  in  March.  1  *:».>.  An  endemic,  ^ast  ro  enteric  in  tvpe.  broke 
out  in  the  latter  part  of  February,  immediatel  v  after  the  opening  of  t  he  \v  inter  seal- 
meat  cache.  This  meat  had  been  piled  up  on  the  ground  before  beini;;  thoroughly 
cooled,  ami  the  layers  lowest  became  tainted. 

There  were  IM  cases  of  inlliien/a  severe,  enough  to  make  note  of.  S  ea-es  of  pneu- 
monia. ."•  eases  of  pleurisy,  and  .'!  cases  of  phthisis  puliiionalis. 

Acute  bronchitis  has  been  very  common.  Ha-mophthesis  has.  as  in  previous  years, 
been  frei|  niMit .  Of  the  eye,  con juiicth  i tis  and  irit  is  have  lieeii  most  coinnion  ;  of  t  he 
ear.  otitis  media  of  tlie  throat,  tonsilitis.  and  pharyngitis.  (  >ne  case  of  cellulitis 
requiring  surgical  interference  occurred  in  Sanko  Melevedov  iVom  exposure  on  the 
last  killing  tield  last  year.  Five  severe  cases  ot'  icterus  occurred. 

In  the  surgical  line  there  has  been  done  the  following:  Operation  on  Axanosia 
Popoff.  for  sii-ipurative  syno\  itis  ot'  the  left  knee.  1  )ecemher  _'l .  IS'.ir.;  <j^ood  recovery. 

operation  on  Mrs.  Elory  Stepetin,  for  osteosarcoma  of  the  antrum.  1  )ecember  L'!', 
1S!U.  Incision  made  over  the  tumor  and  diseased  hone,  and  neoplastic  ;  issue  removed 
to  the  posterior  vault  of  the  pharynx  :  part  of  the  tioor  of  the  orbit  removed:  eye- 
ball intact:  n'ood  recovery:  no  return  as  yet. 

Fracture  of  tin- radius  ;  Mrs.  Xikoli  Knikoi'.  < 'irciuncision  for  paraphimosis.  Two 
case-  requiring  surgical  aid.  I  )isloca  t  ion  of  the  lower  ja  \\  . 

A  numoer  ol  cases  of  minor  surgery,  scalp  wounds,  etc..  occurred,  but  Horn-severe 
enough  to  reijiiiie  special  mention.  Sixty-seven  teeth  were  extracted. 

Since  November.  ls.i|.  there  have  been  '.I'.K!  prescriptions  ijiven  out.  This  does  not 
include  simple  requests  for  salts,  etc..  but  repre>en!s  closely  the  number  of  cases  of 
sickness  requiring  examination  and  diagnosis  which  have  occurred  during  that  time. 

Two  deaths  have  occurred.  First.  The  daughter  of  Theo  Sedic.  aue  11  months. 
The  child  had  an  attack  of  inllu.-n/a  early  in  <  )ctober.  but  made  a  ^i.od  recovery.  1 
was  notified  of  it --last  illness.  It  died. as  far  as  !  can  learn,  while  undergoing  the 
native  process  of  manipulation,  hv  Ellen  Voekof.  Second.  Mrs.  Neon  Mandreijin, 
cause,  acu  t  e  phthisis. 

The  births  were  t5  in  number:  To  A^raiia  Mercul  i !'.  a  son,  July  I.  1^!'!:  Alexandria 
Me!eved<.\.  a  son.  Aumist  11,  is'.M:  Fatiana  Koochootcn.  a  soil,  No\enib<-r  I.  1>«»4; 
Mary  Messekiti.  a  daughter.  Fein-nary  10.  \^.*~>;  Evdotia  1'opotf.  a  daughter.  April  L'-l . 
181J.")',  and  (Mamlia  Vikoulof,  a  dauiihter,  May  !!.  IS:'.",.  Increase  in  j)opulat:on.  1. 

At  the  bottom  of  by  far  tin:  mujoritv  of  troubles  amon^  the  natives  is  that  va^uo 
constitutional  condition  known  as  the  stromous  d  iaot  hesis  or  scrofula.  It  shows 
itself  chiefly  in  a  genera!  lack  of  the  phosphates  and  mineral  salts  in  the  native 
physiological  economy. 

Little  can  be  accomplished  in  the  way  of  remedying  this  condition  b\  the  various 
medicinal  sirups  or  emulsions  until  they  can  be  induced  to  adojtt  a  diet  which  will 
furnish  the  regular  da  ilv  demand  ot  nature  for  those  esscnt  ial  constit  tients  of  the 
body. 

To  this  end  I  would  sui^vM  that  the  next  year's  food  .supply  contain  a  larirer  ]>er- 
centaife  of  those  foods  rich  in  phosphates  and  easily  convertible  hydrocarbons,  as  for 
ex  am  pie,  of  fa  t  -.  la  I'd.  bu  1 1  ermi  Ik,  sweet  oil.  and  of  foods  containing  phosphates  and 
earthy  salts,  oatmeal,  graham  llour,  cracked  wheat,  u'raham  crackers,  etc.  It  would 
also  be  advantageous  if  the  ( iovernment  a^cnt  would  encourau'e  the  raising  of  such 
vegetables  as  will  i^row  here,  such  as  turnips,  radishes,  lettuce,  etc. 

<  )ne  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  iii  the  way  of  attempts  to  improve  the  physical 
condition  ot'  the  people  is  the  fact  that  most  of  them  are  such  inferior  cooks. 

Since  M-uvh  7.  !*!».">.  the  resident  physician  has  taken  t  he  ohstel  rica  I  work  in  his 
own  hands.  <  >n  thai  dav.  Mrs.  Julia  I'e.sef  ^avc  Itirth  to  a  dead  child  under  such 
circumstances  that  he  felt  it  a  matter  of  necessity  to  put  a  st  op  if  possi  bin  to  the 
further  ministrations  of  the  native  midwife,  Ellen  Volkof.  A  communication  was 
sent  to  the  ( iovernmeut  a^ent.  who  took  immediate  steps  to  that  effect. 

The  village  has  been  'denied  and  disinfectant  thrown  in  the  jrarba.i;e  holes. 

In  concluding,  the  resident  physician  would  like,  to  acknowledge  the  hearty  sup- 
port, both  moral  and  material,  -^iven  him  by  the  Tinted  St  at  es  <  lovern  incut  a^ent , 
Mr.  Jud.LCe,  in  every  alteMijit  to  better  the  public  hygiene. 

N'ei'V    I'espeet  I'll  I  I  \' , 

( •  \  i:i).\  1:1:    l'i  |{i;  v    i'<  >NI>.  M  .   I  > 
Mr.  .1 .  STAM.KY-  l'>i:<.\s  \. 

Su   irr'i  I'h  luli'ii  I     \nrli'    Aint'rnnn    <'<nn  ini'i-'-iil  I   < 'oinjxutii . 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


43 


EXHIBIT  B. 

Annual  statement  of  fur  seals  killed  on  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska,  during  the  year  ended 

August  1,  1895. 


Date. 

1894. 
Aug.  10 
Nov.    6 
17 
21 
24 
25 
25 
25 
28 
Dec.      1 
4 
1895. 
Mav   27 
"    28 
June     1 
4 

& 

16 
20 
24 
26 
Julv     1 
2 
3 

,! 
!? 

19 
22 
27 
Aug.    1 

Rookery. 

Number  of  seals 
killed   for  na- 
tives' food. 

Number 
of  seals 
killed  by 
lessees 
for  skins. 

Aggregate. 

Large 
young 
seals. 

Skins  ac- 
cepted by 
lessees. 

Accepted 

(prime). 

Skins 
accepted. 

Total 
number 
of  seals 
killed. 

24                24 
132  ,            132 
12                 12 
147               147 
1                   1 
87                 87 
•J                   2 
3                   3 
218  1            218 
2                   2 
474               474 

6                   6 
79                 79 
3                   3 
76                 76 
3                   3 

24 

*g 

147 

*l 

al 

2 

474 

6 

79 
3 
76 
3 
184 
2 
1,961 
1,548 
575 
751 
861 
364 
960 
431 
1,138 
324 
834 
827 
286 
185 

Middle  Hill 

Watchmen  to  date 

i;,.,.f                  

Watchmen  N'ort  beast  Point 

Tolstoi  and  Reef              .                 

\\-itcliiiicn  Hall'  Way  Point 

W-i  ti'hinen  Southwest  13ay 

Tolstoi  and  Reef        

Tolstoi.  Lnkannon,  Garbotch,  and  Reef  — 

Reef 

Watchmen  Northeast  Point  

Beef 

Watchmen  Northeast  Point  
Tolstoi 

184               184 

1,  961            i,  961 
1,548           1,548 
575               575 
751               751 
861               861 
364  '            364 
960                9RO 
431               431 
1,138           1,138 
:i-J4                324 
834                834 
827  ;            827 
2«C               286 

Watchmen  \ortheast  Point                             

Northeast  Point 

Reef 

Half  Wax   Point                                                     

English  Bay              

Lukaimon                                       .                            

Northeast   Point  

Reef 

H  lit'  Wav  Point 

/apadnie   

Northeast  Point 

Lukanuon  

Reef 

185 
1,454 

185 

Total 

1,454          11,046  •       11.046 

12,500 

44  SEAL    LIFK    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Annual  xtattinent  of  fur  *<<•<//.•>•  killed  on  St.  (ieortje  Island.  Alaxka.  ditriin/  the  //<«>•  ended 

•  full/  •'•!,  AV.'/,". 


Number 

N  umber  of  seal*  of  seals 
killed  for  na-  killed  l.\ 
tives1  food.  lessees 


Kookerv 


killed. 

1894. 

Oct.     2"      North 58'  5s  >  58 

2:i     Xapadnie  (killed  by  guards)  3  3  :;  3 

*'•      Ka>t     : lit  Hi  11.  19 

2t«       X.>rth 3  3  3  3 

3u      Xapadnie  (killed  by  guards) 3  3  3  ',> 

Nov.      2     do '..' 14  II  14  14 

<•>     North 35  :r,  ;tr,  35 

.nie  (Killed  by  u'uardsi   . .  3  .  3 


!>.(.     ;;  Xortli r;                i;j    .  m 

1895. 

May    L!5  (Ircat  ICa^t If,                  Hi    ]f,  16 

JUIH-     :;  North 2.")                 'Jfi    ...      -jr.  25 

14  do i:;n  K!9  131) 

L'4  Starry  A  rte.'l 4,^:i  4Sli  483 

•J4  Zapadnie  (killed  by  guards) •_'  L'  2 

'JO  (Ircat  and  Little  Kast 471  471  471 

29  Xapadnie  i  k  illed  by  LCiiards) 2  '1  2 

July      1  Xortli .' i  :.(i  150  150 

^  Xapadni.- 2:i2  23J  232 

8  Xupadnie  (killed  by  o-uards; ',',  3  3 

11  Great  and  Little  East ' 53S  53S  538 

20  Xapadnie  (killed  by  guards) :;  3  3 

22  Stari-y  Art,  11  and  North 27!"  27H  27<J 

'.'•(i  Xapadnie.  (killed  by  guards) 777 


Eleven  of  the  foregoing  skins,  taken  from  seals  killed  for  native  food  during  the 
fall  of  18H-L  were  damaged  by  bine  foxes,  leaving  2.500  marketable  skins  to  be 
shipped  by  the  lessees. 

THOS.   E.  ADAMS. 
AtxixtaHt  Special  Trenxnrii  A</cnt. 


EX  III  HIT    ('. 

Iteceiptft  for   I'ur-neal  xkinx  >t}n}>ptd  from  the  seal  ixland*,  including  eleven  ft  lei  an  shipped  to 
the  collector  of  customs  at  San  l^ranciNco,  ('a!..  18!t~i. 

ISLAND  or  Sr.   TATI., 
Hei-'iny  S<-a,  Alaska,  Aui/uxt  //,  /«*?,'/ J. 

This  is  to  certify  that  lL',r>00  fur-seal  skins  have  this  day  been  shipped  on  board 
the  North  American  ( 'ommercial  Company's  steamer  Hertha.  .) .  M.  1  lays,  master,  con- 
signed to  the  North  American  Commercial  Company  at  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

.IAMKS  .Jrixii:, 
ANxixtatit  TreaHiin/  At/ent. 


ISLAND  OF  ST.  (iKoiuiK, 
fieri ny  Sea.  Alaska,  Anf/unf  1-f.  1S'J5. 

'I'his  is  to  certify  that  L',.riOo  fur-seal  skins  have  this  day  been  shipped  on  board  the 
North  American  Commercial  Company's  steamer  lierlha,  .1.  M.  Hays,  master,  con- 
signed to  the  Xortli  American  Commercial  Company.  San  I'rancisco,  Cal. 

THOMAS  E.   ADAMS, 
Axxixtant   I'redxiirt/  Atjent. 


ISLAND  01    ST.  <;KOK<;L. 
Jie.ring  Sea,  Alaxka.  AiKjimt  /•/,  /,S'.'A7. 

This  is  t<>  certifv  that  1  1  damaged  fur-seal  skins  lioxed  have  this  day  been  shipped 
on  board  the  North  American  Commercial  Company's  strainer  Hertha  (.1.  M .  Hays, 
master  .  run>i'_;ncd  t  o  t  hr  collector  of  custom^.  San  Krancisco,  Cal. 

Tnos.    E.  ADAMS, 

Treaxury  Aycnt. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  45 

EXHIBIT  D. 

Distribution  of  <•<> nuininiti/  fund,  St.  I'aitl  Island,  Alaska,  Auyust  1,1895 — Division  No.  6. 

To  12,500  prime  fur-seal  «kins,  at  50  cents $6,  250. 00 

To  140  prime  fur-<c.il  skins,  taken  in  1894,  rejected  by  local  agent, 
subsequently  accepted  by  the  lessees,   but  not   included   in 

Division  No.  5 70. 00 

$6,  320. 00 

First  class: 

Arkashof,  Arseny 164.  38 

Hoiirdnkottsky ,  Apollou 164.  38 

BntiTin,  Karp 164.  38 

<;romof,  Niroli 164.38 

Kochooten,  Jacob 164.38 

Kochooti'ii,  John 164.  38 

Koxemf,  Stepan 164. 38 

Krnkof,  Nicoli 164.38 

Maiulreuan.  Neon 164.  38 

Melevedov,  Anton 164.  38 

Nedarazof.  Martin 164.  38 

Nedara/of,  Stepan 164.  38 

Ovstegof,  Peter 164. 38 

Pankof,  Parfiri 164.38 

Barancbin,  Daniel 164.38 

Reseff,  Nicoli 164.38 

Sedick,  Theodore 164.  38 

Stepetin,  Elary 164. 38 

Terrakanof,  Kerrick 164. 38 

Tetof,  Peter 164. 38 

Tetof,  Neon 164.38 

Volkof,  M arkel 164.  38 

3,616.36 

Second  class: 

Artoinanof,  Kerrick 131. 52 

Bojrodanof,  Nicoli 131. 52 

Emanof,  George 131. 52 

Fratis,  John 131.52 

Galaktionef,  Alexander 131.52 

( Jolotof,  John 131. 52 

Haberof,  Paul 131.  52 

Kochooten,  Eupheme 131. 52 

Ko/nitzof,  John 131. 52 

Merculief,  Alexander 131. 52 

Melevedov,  Alexander 131. 52 

Seduli,  Vassily 131.52 

Shabolin,  Necon 131. 52 

Stepetin,  Dorofay 131. 52 

Shaisnakof,  Paul 131.  52 

1,972.80 

Third  class : 

Hansen,  Alexander 105.21 

Melevedov,  Simeon 105. 21 

Nozekof,  Simeon 105. 21 

Stepetin,  John 105. 21 

420. 84 

Fourth  class : 

Kochergin,  George 30. 00 

Krukof,  John  M 30. 00 

Krnkof,  John  N 30. 00 

Krukof,  Maxim 30. 00 

Sedick,  Philip 30. 00 

Shaisnikof,  Valerian 30. 00 

Tetof,  Zahar 30. 00 

210 

Special  class : 

Nicoli  Krukoff  (first  chief) 50. 00 

Nicoli  Gromoff  (second  chief) 50.00 

, 100 


46  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

We,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  statement  of  the 
distribution  of  the  community  fund,  derived  from  taking  fur-seal  skins  on  the  island 
of  St.  Paul  during  the  season  of  1895;  that  the  apportionment  is  just  and  equitable; 
that  the  amount  set  opposite  each  name  has  been  credited  to  such  native  sealer  on 
the  books  of  the  North  American  Commercial  Company,  and  also  placed  to  their 
credit  on  their  pass  books. 
Subscribed  this  the  2d  day  of  August,  1895. 

J.  C.  REDPATH, 

Agent  North  American  Commercial  Company, 
NICOLI  KRUKOFF, 

First  Chief. 
NICOLI  GROMOFF, 

Second  Chief. 
JOSEPH  B.  CROWLEY, 
Special  Treasury  Agent  in  Charge  Seal  Islands. 


Distribution  of  community  fund,  St.  George  Island,  Bering  Sea,  Alaska — Division  No.  6. 

To  taking  2, 500  fur-seal  skins,  at  50  cents $1, 250. 00 

By  seven  men,  first  class $475. 37 

By  eight  men,  second  class 434. 56 

By  six  men,  third  class 244.  50 

By  one  man,  fourth  class 20. 57 

By  salary  to  first  chief 50. 00 

By  salary  to  second  chief 25. 00 

1,250.00 

First  class :  === 

Demetri  Lestinkoft' 67.  91 

Eustin  Sweztoff 67.  91 

Eoff  Philornonoff 67.  91 

Simeon  Philomonoff 67. 91 

Elexia  Oustigoff 67.91 

Corniel  Grokoff 67.91 

Joseph  Merculilf 67. 91 

Second  class:  475'37 

Nicoli  Melovansky 54. 32 

Peter  Rezanzoff 54. 32 

Andronic  Philomanoff 54. 32 

Stephan  Lekanoff 54.  32 

Simeon  Oustigoff 54. 32 

Parfiri  Galanin 54. 32 

Michael  Lestinkoff 54. 32 

Peter  Prokopief 54. 32 

Third  class:  434'56 

George  Merculiff 40. 75 

Gregory  Philomauoff 40.  75 

Evan  Kulikuloff 40.75 

Innokenty  Rezanzoff 40.75 

Nicoli  Ne'derazoff 40.75 

Evan  Merculiff 40. 75 

Fourth  class:  244'50 

Innokenty  Philomanoff 20. 57 

Special : 

Demetri  Lesteukoff  (first  chief) 50. 00 

Eustin  Swetzoff  (second  chief ) 25. 00 

75.00 

We  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  statement  of  the  distribution  of  the 
community 'fund,  derived  from  the  taking  of  fur-seal  skins  on  the  island  of  St. 
George,  Alaska,  during  the  season  of  1895;  that  the  apportionment  is  just  and  equi- 
table, and  that  each  individual  sealer  has  been  credited  on  the  books  of  the  North 
American  Commercial  Company  with  the  same  amount  as  herein  set  opposite  each 
name,  etc. 

St.  George  Island,  August  1,  1895.  THOS.  E.  ADAMS. 

Assistant  Special  Agent. 
DANIEL  WEBSTER, 

Agent  North  American  Commercial  Company. 
DEMETRI  LRSTENKOFF. 

Native  Chief. 


REI'OIIT   (>r   .lOSKI'H    MliltllAV.    SI'KCIAL   TREASURY    ACKNT. 
KOR  THE  YKAR   IS'.U. 


OFFICE  OF  SPECIAL  AGENT, 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 
Waxlii  nylon,  1).  C.,  December  30,  1894. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that,  in  compliance  with  Department 
instructions  dated  June  12,  1894,  1  went  to  the  seal  islands  of  Alaska 
and  inspected  the  fur-seal  rookeries,  noting  particularly  the  numbers 
and  present  condition  of  the  seals  in  comparison  with  what  they  were 
every  year  since  I  tirst  saw  them  in  IfcSl). 

I  afterwards  sailed  along  the  American  coast  from  Unalaska  to  San 
Francisco,  calling  at  every  important  settlement  on  the  way;  inspecting 
every  salmon  stream  and  cannery  on  the  route;  making  diligent  inquiry 
into  the  condition  of  the  native  inhabitants  of  Alaska;  the  wants  and 
desires  of  the  white  settlers  who  are  busy  developing  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  Territory,  and  noting  the  views  of  the  people  generally 
011  all  that  appertains  to  the  present  and  future  prosperity  of  the  new 
country. 

On  July  10, I  left  San  Francisco  on  board  the  U.  S.  revenue  cutter 
Rush,  Capt.  C.  L.  Hooper  commanding,  and  arrived  on  the  15th  at  Port 
Townsend,  where  we  were  afterwards  joined  by  Hon.  C.  S.  Hamlin, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  accompanied  us  to  the  seal 
islands  and  back  as  far  as  Vancouver  City,  British  Columbia. 

We  sailed  on  board  the  Rush  from  Port  Townsend  July  23  and 
arrived  at  the  seal  islands  August  3,  first  touching  at  St.  George  and 
sailing  along  the  coast,  inspecting  all  the  rookeries  on  that  island 
except  Zapadnie,  and  then  sailed  over  to  St.  Paul  Island,  where  we 
landed  in  a  dense  fog  at  6  o'clock  p.  in. 

The  seal  islands,  commonly  called  the  Pribilof  group,  consist  of  four 
distinct  islands  in  Bering  Sea,  situated  between  55°  and  57°  north 
latitude,  and  about  170°  west  longitude  from  Greenwich.  They  are 
about  200  miles  west  from  the  nearest  point  on  the  mainland  of  Alaska, 
200  miles  north  of  the  Aleutian  chain,  and  1^00  miles  south  of  St.  Mat- 
thews Island,  or,  in  other  words,  they  are  about  200  miles  away  from 
any  other  land. 

The  seal  islands  are  nearly  2,300  miles  from  San  Francisco,  and  about 
1,600  miles,  as  the  ship  sails,  directly  west  from  Sitka. 

They  are  known,  respectively,  as  St.  Paul,  St.  George,  Otter,  and 
Walrus  islands. 

Otter  and  Walrus  are  small  and  of  no  importance,  and  as  the  seals 
do  not  haul  out  at  present  on  either  of  them  regularly,  and  as  they  are 
not  included  in  the  lease,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  refer  to  them  again.1 

St.  Paul,  the  larger  of  the  two  principal  islands,  is  long,  low,  and 
narrow,  its  extreme  length  and  breadth  being  12  and  6  miles,  respec- 
tively, and  its  total  area  being  about  36  square  miles.  Around  the 
greater  part  of  the  island  runs  a  long,  low,  sandy  beach,  easy  of  access, 
where  the  seals  haul  out  without  difficulty,  and  where  they  were  to  be 


In  1894  about  1,000  seals  hauled  out  on  Otter  Island. 

47 


48  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

found  for  a  century  in  greater  numbers  than  on  any  other  spot  on  the 
earth. 

St.  George  Island  has  an  area  of  about  "21  square  miles,  and  its  sides 
rise  out  of  the  water  so  abruptly  and  so  steep  that  there  are  only  a  few 
places  around  the  whole  coast  upon  which  anything  coming  out  of  the 
sea  can  find  a  footing,  and  consequently  the  number  of  seals  landing 
must  of  necessity  be  limited,  which  accounts,  I  think,  for  the  great  dif- 
ference in  the  numbers  to  be  found  on  the  two  islands. 

CLIMATE. 

The  islands  are  situated  in  the  path  of  the  Japan  current,  which,  on 
meeting  the  icy  waters  of  the  north  at  this  point,  brings  forth  the  dense 
summer  fogs  for  which  Bering  Sea  is  so  justly  famous,  and  in  which  the 
islands  are  enveloped  from  May  to  September.  Owing  to  difference  of 
altitude,  St.  George  Island  being  much  higher  than  St.  Paul,  there  is  a 
very  marked  difference  in  the  amount  of  rainfall  on  each — fully  five 
times  the  volume  falling  on  St.  George,  although  the  islands  are  only 
40  miles  apart. 

The  average  temperature  for  the  year  is  about  35°,  ranging  from  35° 
to  60°  in  the  summer,  and  from  zero  to  15°  below  in  winter. 

Both  of  the  islands  are  of  volcanic  origin,  and  there  is  not  a  sign  of 
tree,  shrub,  or  vine  on  either  of  them.  They  are  covered  in  season  with 
moss,  grass,  and  wild  flowers,  but  it  is  impossible  to  raise  anything  by 
cultivation,  for,  no  matter  how  rich  the  soil  may  be,  there  is  not  enough 
sunshine  to  ripen  the  crop.  Thick  fog,  leaden  sky,  drizzly  rain,  mist, 
and  moisture  are  the  general  conditions  ruling  there,  and  during  a  con- 
tinuous residence  of  thirty  months — fifteen  on  each  island — I  saw  only 
six  wholly  clear,  sunshiny  days. 

The  surface  of  the  highlands  on  St.  George  is  covered  with  loose  and 
broken  rock — rock  broken  into  all  shapes  and  sizes,  from  that  of  a  pebble 
to  boulders  weighing  many  tons,  and  thrown  together  into  every  imag- 
inable position  except  a  level  one. 

On  St.  Paul  the  winds  of  centuries  have  heaped  the  sands  of  the  sea- 
shore into  dunes  of  considerable  height  and  magnitude,  and  filled  up 
many  cavities  and  rough  spots,  but,  excepting  a  slight  covering  of  most 
nutritious  reindeer  moss,  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  of  St.  George 
remains  to-day  as  it  came  from  the  hands  of  the  Creator. 

And  yet  nature  finds  a  use  for  those  rugged  and  unshapely  rocks,  for 
under  and  between  them,  where  the  prowling,  crafty  fox  can  not  pene- 
trate, millions  of  sea  birds  build  their  nests,  and  lay  their  eggs,  and 
rear  their  young.  I  use  the  word  millions  advisedly,  and  I  believe  I 
might  say  billions,  and  yet  be  within  the  bounds  of  truth. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  sights  to  be  seen  in  this  otherwise  desolate 
region  is  the  return  of  the  birds  from  the  sea  to  their  nests  during  the 
hatching  season,  when  toward  evening  they  fill  the  air  and  darken  the 
sun  for  hours  in  their  flight  with  their  countless  numbers. 

Here,  too,  on  St.  George  Island  the  famous  blue  fox  finds  a  perma- 
nent home,  and  grows  to  perfection,  for  here  he  has  abundance  of 
choice  and  dainty  food,  and  no  one  to  molest  him  out  of  season. 

SEALS. 

To  these  islands,  notwithstanding  their  cheerless  aspect,  their  dreary 
barren  shores,  their  damp  and  foggy  climate,  come  the  fur  seals  every 
year  with  the  unerring  regularity  of  the  seasons;  here  they  haul  out  of 
the  water  and  make  their  home  on  land  for  six  months  at  least,  during 


SI-:AL   LIFK  ON    Tin:   PRIIULOF   ISLANDS.  49 

which  time  they  bring  forth  mid  rear  their  young,  after  which  they 
return  to  the  sea,  and  disappear  in  the  depths  of  the  great  ocean  until 
the  days  lengthen  out  again  and  nature  tells  them  to  return. 

Given  a  lew  warm,  sunny  days  any  time  about  April  20,  and  the 
"first  bull"  may  be  seen  carefully  reconnoitering  a  rookery  and  event- 
ually hauling  out  and  taking  possession  of  the  identical  rock  or  spot 
of  earth  upon  which  he  dwelt  with  his  family  last  year,  and  upon  which 
he  himself,  in  all  probability,  was  born. 

Early  in  May  the  breeding  males  or  bulls  begin  to  arrive  in  large 
numbers  and  select  their  stations,  upon  which  they  lie  down  and  sleep 
for  several  weeks,  or  until  about  the  time  the  breeding  females  or  cows 
are  expected,  when  they  assume  au  upright  sitting  posture  and  send 
forth  at  intervals  a  cry  peculiar  to  the  fur  seal,  which  is  supposed  to 
be  an  invitation  or  signal  to  the  approaching  cows. 

About  the  middle  of  May,  and  long  before  the  arrival  of  the  cows, 
the  large  young  males,  or  bachelors,  begin  to  arrive  at  the  islands; 
and  they,  too,  would  haul  out  upon  the  breeding  grounds  were  it  not 
that  the  bulls  are  there  to  prevent  it  by  driving  them  off.  No  male 
seal  can  stay  on  the  breeding  grounds  that  is  not  old  enough  and  strong 
enough  to  maintain  his  position  against  all  coiners.  The  young  males- 
are  thus  naturally  forced  to  herd  by  themselves  at  a  safe  distance  from 
the  breeding  grounds  during  the  breeding  season,  and  this  regulation 
in  turn  serves  a  very  good  purpose,  for,  as  the  breeding  and  killing 
seasons  run  together  through  the  mouths  of  June  and  July,  the  young 
males  can  be  easily  surrounded  and  driven  to  the  killing  grounds  with- 
out having  to  disturb  the  breeding  seals. 

None  but  young  male  seals  are  ever  killed  for  food  or  for  skins  or  for 
any  other  purpose  on  the  islands. 

About  June  10  the  cows  begin  to  arrive  and  haul  out  and  select  their 
stations  for  the  season. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  the  bulls  meet  the  cows  at  the  water's  edge 
and  light  bloody  battles  for  them,  but  my  observation  has  convinced  me 
that  the  cow  herself  selects  her  station,  and  having  once  made  a  choice 
she  is  certainly  compelled  to  remain  there. 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  cows  the  young  seals  or  pups  are  to 
be  seen  upon  the  rookeries;  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that,  with  few  excep- 
tions, they  are  all  brought  forth  by  July  25. 

I  have  for  six  years  paid  particular  attention  to  the  formation  of  the 
harems  or  families,  and  I  find  that  from  July  10  to  20  the  rookeries  are 
fullest  and  at  their  best,  and  I  have  counted  from  1  to  72  cows  in  one 
harem. 

After  bringing  forth  their  young  the  cows  go  into  the  sea  to  feed, 
returning  to  and  nursing  their  offspring  every  few  hours  at  first,  but 
gradually  lengthening  their  stay  into  days  and  weeks  before  they 
return. 

When  about  four  or  five  weeks  old  the  pups  begin  to  stir  around  and 
get  acquainted  with  one  another,  forming  pods  or  crowds,  and  running 
in  company,  at  first  inclining  toward  the  interior  of  the  rookery,  and 
afterwards,  as  they  advance  in  age  and  strength,  they  direct  their  steps 
toward  the  beach,  where  they  paddle  around  in  the  shallows  until,  step 
by  step,  they  learn  to  swim. 

About  the  beginning  of  August  the  harems  are  broken  up,  the  com- 
pact formation  of  the  herd  is  dissolved,  and  the  different  sexes  mix  and 
mingle  together  indiscriminately  all  over  the  rookeries  and  hauling 
grounds. 

When  the  bull  hauls  out  in  May  he  is  as  "round  as  a  barrel "  and  as 
S.  Doc,  137,  pt.  1 4 


50  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

fat  and  sleek  and  glossy  as  possible;  but  after  a  four  months7  residence 
on  land,  where  he  never  tastes  food  or  drink,  he  becomes  so  poor  and 
gaunt  and  weak  that  it  is  with  the  utmost  difficulty  he  crawls  oft'  into 
the  sea  when  he  leaves,  late  in  August  or  early  in  September,  to  take 
his  annual  journey  through  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  Ocean. 
By  September  lf>  the  bulls  have  disappeared,  and  by  the  middle  of 
October  the  largest  of  the  young  males  have  lol lowed  them. 

Early  in  November  the  cows  begin  to  leave,  and  if  the  weather  turns 
unusually  cold  or  rough  they  do  not  delay  their  departure. 

The  pups  leave  about  the  middle  of  November,  and  the  yearlings, 
male  and  female,  leave  early  in  December. 

In  exceptionally  fine  weather  it  is  common  to  see  a  few  seals  in  the 
waters  around  the  islands  all  winter,  and  in  rare  instances  they  have 
been  taken  on  shore  as  late  as  January;  but  the  great  herd  follows  a 
well-defined  and  (at  present)  well-known  path  through  the  Bering  Sea 
and  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  south  and  east  from  the  seal  islands  to 
the  coast  of  California,  nearly  opposite  Gape  St.  Lucas,  and  return 
along  the  American  coast  and  the  Aleutian  Islands  to  Bering  Sea. 

The  following  very  accurate  description  of  the  fur  seal  and  its  pecul- 
iarities is  taken  from  the  report  of  the  United  States  Bering  Sea 
Commissioners : 

1.  The  northern  fur  seal  ((Jalloi-hinutt  urninus)  is  an  inhabitant  of  Bering  Sea  and  the 
Sea  of  Okhotsk,  where  it  breeds  on  rocky  islands.     Only  four  breeding  colonies  are 
known,  namely,  (1)  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  belonging  to  the  United  States;  (2)  on 
the  Commander  Islands,  belonging  to  Kussia;  (3)  on  Kobbeu  Reef,  belonging  to  Rus- 
sia; and  (4)  on  the  Kurile  Islands,  belonging  to  Japan.     The  1'ribilof  and  Commander 
Islands  are  iu  Bering  Sea;  Robben  Reef  is  in  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk,  near  the  island  of 
Saghalien,  and  the  Kurile  Islands  are  between  Ve/o  and  Kamchatka.     The  species  is 
not  known  to  breed  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.     The  fur  seals  of  Lobos  Island 
and  the  south  seas,  and  also  those  of  the  Galapagos  Islands  and  the  islands  off  Lower 
California,  belong  to  widely  different  species,  and  are  placed  iu  different  genera  from 
the  northern  fur  seal. 

2.  In  winter  the  fur  seals  migrate  into  the  North   Pacific  Ocean.     The  herds  from 
the  Commander  Islands,  Robben  Reef,  and  the  Kurile  Islands  move  south  along  the 
Japan  coast,  while  the  herd  belonging  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  leaves  Bering  Sea  by 
the  eastern  passes  of  the  Aleutian  chain. 

3.  The  fur  seals  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  do  not  mix  with  those  of  the  Commander 
and   Kurile  islands  at   any  time  of  the  year.     In  summer  the  two   herds  remain 
entirely  distinct,  separated  by  a  water  interval  of  several  hundred  miles;  and  in 
their  winter  migrations  those  from  the  Pribilof  Islands  follow  the  American  coast 
in  a  southeasterly  direction,  while  those  from  the  Commander  and  Kurile  islands  fol- 
low the  Siberian  and  Japan  coasts  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  the  two  herds  being 
separated  in  winter  by  a  water  interval  of  several  thousand  miles. 

This  regularity  iu  the  movements  of  the  different  herds  is  in  obedience  to  tire  well- 
known  law  that  migratory  animals  follow  definite  routes  in  migration,  and  return 
year  after  year  to  the  same  places  to  breed.  Were  it  not  for  this  law  there  would 
be  no  such  thing  as  stability  of  species,  for  interbreeding  and  existence  under  diverse 
physiographic  conditions  would  destroy  all  specific  characters.  ' 

The  pelage  of  the  Pribilof  fur  seals  differs  so  markedly  from  that  of  the  Commander 
Islands  fur  seals  that  the  two  are  readily  distinguished  by  experts,  and  have  very 
different  values,  the  former  commanding  much  higher  prices  than  the  latter  at  the 
regular  London  sales. 

4.  The  old  breeding  males  of  the  Pribilof  herd  are  not  known  to  range  much  south 
of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  but  the  females  and  young  appear  along  the  American  coast 
as  far  south  as  northern  California.     Returning,  the  herds  of  females  move  uorth- 


1  The  home  of  a  species  is  the  area  over  which  it  breeds.  It  is  well  known  to  nat- 
uralists that  migratory  animals,  whether  mammals,  birds,  fishes,  or  members  of 
other  groups,  leave  their  homes  for  a  part  of  the  year  because  the  climatic  conditions 
or  the  food  supply  become  unsuited  to  their  needs;  and  that  wherever  the  home  of  a 
species  is  so  situated  as  to  provide  a  suitable  climate  and  food  supply  throughout  the 
year  such  species  do  not  migrate.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the  fact  that  the  north- 
ern fur  seals  are  migrants,  while  the  fur  seals  of  tropical  anil  warm  temperate  lati- 
tudes do  not  migrate. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  51 

ward  along  the  coasts  of  Oregon,  Washington,  and  British  Columbia  in  January, 
February,  and  March,  oceuring  at  varying  distances  from  shore.  Following  the 
Alaskan  coast  north  ward  ;ind  westward,  they  leave  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  in  June, 
travn-se  the.  eastern  passes  in  the  Aleutian  chain,  and  proceed  at  once  to  the  Pribilof 
Islands. 

5.  The  old  (breeding)   males  reach  the   islands   much  earlier,  the  first  coming  the 
last  week  in  April  or  early  in  May.     They  at.  once  land  and  take  stands  on  the  rook- 
cries,  where  they  await  tin-  arrival  of  the  females.     Each  male  (called  a  bull)  selects 
a  largo  rock,  on  or  near  which  he  remains  until  August,  unless  driven  oil'  by  stronger 
bulls,  never  leaving  for  a  single  instant,  night  or  day,  and   taking  neither  food  nor 
water.     Both  before  and  for  some  time  after  the  arrival  of  the  females  (called  cows) 
the  bulls  tight  savagely  among  themselves  for  positions  on  the  rookeries  and  for  pos- 
session of  the  cows,  and  many  are.  severely  wounded.     All  the  bulls  are  located  by 
June  !><>. 

6.  The  bachelor  seals  (holluschickie)  begin  to  arrive  early  in  May,  and  large  num- 
bers are  on  the  hauling  grounds  by  the  end  of  May  or  lirst  week  of  June.     They  begin 
to  leave  the  islands  in  November,  but  many  remain  into  December  or  .January,  and 
sometimes  into  February. 

7.  The  cows  begin  arriving  early  in  June,  and  soon  appear  in  large  schools  or 
droves  immense  numbers  taking  their  places  on  the  rookeries  each  day  between  the 
middle  and  the  end  of  the  month,  the  precise  dates  varying  with  the  weather.     They 
assemble  about  the  old  bulls  in  compact  groups,  called  hareins.     The  harems  are 
complete  early  in  July,  at  which  time  the  breeding  rookeries  attain  their  maximum 
si/e  and  compactness. 

8.  The  cows  give  birth  to  their  young  soon  after  taking  their  places  on  the  harems, 
in   the  latter  part  of  June  and  in    Inly,  but  a  few  are  delayed  until  August.     The 
period  of  gestation  is  between  eleven  and  twelve  months. 

il.  A  single  young  is  born  in  each  instance.  The  young  at  birth  are  about  equally 
divided  as  to  sex. 

10.  The  act  of  nursing  is  performed  on  land,  never  in  the  water.     It  is  necessary, 
therefore,  for  the  cows  to  remain  at  the  islands  until  the  young  are  weaned,  which 
is  not  until  they  are  four  or  rive  months  old.     Each  mother  knows  her  own  pup,  and 
will  not  permit  any  other  to  nurse.     This  is  the  reason  so  many  thousand  pups  starve 
to  death  on  the  rookeries  when  their  mothers  are  killed  at  sea.     We  have  repeatedly 
seen  nursing  cows  come  out  of  the  water  and  search  for  their  youn«r,  often  traveling 
considerable  distances  and  visiting  group  after  group  of  pups   before  finding  their 
own.     On  reaching  an   assemblage  of  pups,  some  of  which  are  awake  and  others 
asleep,  she  rapidly  moves  about  among  them,  sniffing  at  each,  and  then  gallops  off  to 
the  next.     Those  that  are  awake  advance  toward  her,  with  the  evident  purpose  of 
nursing,  but  she  repels  them  with  a  snarl  and  passes  on.     When  she  finds  her  own 
she  fondles  it  a  moment,  turns  partly  over  on  her  side  so  as  to  present  her  nipples, 
and   it  promptly  begins   to  suck.      In  one  instance  we  saw  a  mother  carry  her  pup 
back  a  distance  of  15  meters  (50  feet)  before  allowing  it  to  nurse.     It  is  said  that  the 
cows  sometimes  reoogni/e  their  young  by  their  cry,  a  sort  of  bleat. 

11.  Soon  alter  birth  the  pups  move  away  from  the  harems  and  huddle  together  in 
small  groups,  called  "  pods,"  along  the  borders  of  the  breeding  rookeries  and  at  some 
distance  from  the  water.     The  small  groups  gradually  unite  to  form  larger  groups, 
which  move  slowly  down   to  th*  water's  edge.     When  six  or  eight  weeks  old  the 
pups  begin  to  learn  to  swim.     Not  only  are  the  young  not  born  at  sea,  but  if  soon 
after  birth  they  are  washed  into  the  sea  they  are  drowned. 

12.  The  fur  seal  is  polygamous,  and  the  male  is  at  lenst  five  times  as  large  as  the 
female.     As  a  rule  each  ma,le  serves  about  fifteen  or  twenty  females,  but  in  some 
cases  as  many  as  fifty  or  more. 

13.  The  act  of  copulation  takes  place  on  land,  and  lasts  from  five  to  ten  minutes. 
Most  of  the  cows  are  served  by  the  middle  of  July,  or  soon  after  the  birth  of  their  pups. 
They  then  take  to  the  water,  and  come  and  go  for  food  while  nursing. 

14.  Many  young  bulls  succeed  in  securing  a  few  cows  behind  or  away  from  the 
breeding  harems,  particularly  late  in  the  season  (after  the  middle  of  July,  at  which 
time  the  regular  harems  begin  to  break  up).     It  is  almost  certain  that  many,  if  not 
most,  of  the  cows  are  served  for  the  first  time  by  these  young  bulls,  either  on  the 
hauling  grounds  or  along  the  Avater  front 

These  young  bulls  may  be  distinguished  at  a  glance  from  those  on  the  regular  harems 
by  the  circumstance  that  they  are  fat  and  in  excellent  condition,  while  those  that  have 
fasted  for  three  months  on  the  breeding  rookeries  are  much  emaciated  and  exhausted. 
The  young  bulls,  even  when  they  have  succeeded  in  capturing  a  number  of  cows, 
can  be  driven  from  their  stands  with  little  difficulty,  while  (as  is  well  known)  the 
old  bnlla  on  the  harems  will  die  in  their  tracks  rather  than  leave. 

15.  The  cows  are  believed  to  take  the  bull  first  when  2  years  old,  and  deliver  their 
first  pup  when  3  years  old. 

1(5.  Bulls  first  take  stands  on  the  breeding  rookeries  when  6  or  7  years  old.  Before 
this  they  are  not  powerful  enough  to  fight  the  older  bulls  for  positions  on  the  harems. 


,)*J  SEAL     LIFK    OX    THK     1'KI  hi  LOT     ISLANDS. 

17.  ( o\\s.  when  nur.-inu.  regularly  ira\el  lon^  (list, -mres  to  feed.  I  hey  arc  fre- 
oiiently  found  Itui  t>r  \~>n  miles  from  the  i-lands,  ami  soinet  imes  a(  ureater  distances. 

IN.  The  to  id  of  I  lie  fur  --e.il  eon-i-t-  of  fish,  squids,  crustaceans,  and  probably  other 
form-  of  marine  lil'e. 

1!'.  The  ureat  minority  of  cows,  pups.  and  >uch  of  the  breeding  hull-  as  have  not 
a  Ire  ad  \  ^onc.  leave  the  i>  lands  alioa  i  the  mi  idle  of  November,  the  dale  \  ar\  inu'  con- 
sidei  a  lii  v  with  the  season  . 

L'o.  l';irt  of  the  noiihreed  i  11:4  male  -eal-  i  liolliisehickie),  lo^cthei1  with  a  I'e\\  old 
lnil  1-.  reiiia  in  until  .1  an  nary,  and  r  M  ;  .ire  i  n-t  am-es  until  IV  hi  uar\  .  or  i-veii  later. 

L'l.  The  fur  se  il  ;..-  a  species  is  presen t  at  the  1'ri  Id  lot'  Islands  einht  or  nine  nionl  hs 
ot'  the  \ear.  or  from  t  v.  o  thirds  to  three  fourths  of  the  time,  and  in  mild  winters 
sometimes  during  the  entire  year.  I  lie  breeding  hulls  arrive  earliest  and  remain 
coin  imioiisly  on  i  lie  island-  about  four  month-.  The  hived iu^' cows  remain  about 
six  iiion  t  ii-.  and  pan  of  the  lion  breed  i  1114  male  seals  about  eiuht  or  nine  months,  and 
somet  inies  i  hroiiuh.'ii  t  the  en  i  ire  \  ea  . 

--.  I'liriii'j.  the  northward  initiation,  as  has  been  -tated.  the  last  of  the  bodv  or 
herd  of  fur  sr.-ils  lease  the  North  i'a.  itic  and  enter  I'.erin^  Sea  in  the  latter  part  of 
.1  line.  A  lew  sea  t  tered  individuals,  however,  a  re  -»  en  dm  inu  the  summer  at  various 
points  aloim  the  northwest  coast.  i  in  se  are  probably  se.ds  that  were  so  badly 
wounded  by  pela-h-  s'-aieis  that  they  could  not  travel  \\ith  the  rest  of  the  herd  to 
the  1'rildlof  Islands.  it  has  been  a  1  le^cd  t  ha  t  yon  n^  fn  r  sea  Is  have  been  found  in 
early  -ummer  on  several  occasions  alon^  the  coa-t  of  Uritish  Colnmbia  and  south- 
east ern  A  la. sis  a.  While  no  authentic  case  of  the  kind  ha-  come  to  our  not  h  e.  it  would 
be  expected  from  the  lar»v  mini  her  of  cows  t  hat  are  wounded  radi  \\inier  and  spring 
aloiin  tiie-e  eo.ist-  and  aie  thereby  rendi-red  unable  to  reach  the  breeding  rookrvies, 
andmu-t  perfoi'ce  >j  i  \'c  'drill  to  their  \  oiin^-  (  perhaps  premat  nrtdy  i  wherever  they 
m  a  v  be  at  tne  time. 

L'.'l.  The  reason  the  nort  hem  !'•:  r  -ea  1  i  n  iia  hi ;  s  the  I  'ri  hi  lot'  I -lands  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  other  i-laiii-.s  and  , -oasts  is  that  ii  here  find-  the  climatic  and  physical  condi- 
tions necessary  to  iis  1 ;  f e  wants.  This  species  ret |i; ires  a  uniloi  mly  low  temperature 
and  overcast  sk\  and  a  IMITO-\  a  i  n,ns]d;ere  to  picveiit  the  .-un's  ray-  from  injuiinu'  it 
diiiin.uthe  lonu  summer  season  when  it  remains  upon  the  rookeries.  It  reouires 
also  roeUy  beaches  on  \\  hi  eh  to  biin.u'  forth  its  \oiinu'.  No  islands  to  the  northward 
or  southward  ot'  the  Prii-ilof  Island-,  wiih  the  possible  exeejition  of  limited  areas 
on  the  Aleutian  chain,  are  known  to  po.-se-.s  the  reiji.isite  combination  of  climate 
and  p  1 1  v  s  i  c  a  1  conditions. 

All  statements  to  the  effect  that  fur  seals  ot'  this  species  formerly  bred  on  the 
coa.-ts  and  islands  oi  <  alitornia  and  Mexico  are  erroneous,  the  seals  remaining  there 
beloiiuinu  to  \\idely  different  .-pecies. 

DIJlVINtJ    AND    KILLI.NCJ. 

\\  lien-  tiic  lirst  youii0,1  iiuilcs.  or  bachelors,  arrive  at  the  islands  in 
May.  a  drive  is  made  for  food  for  tin1  natives,  who  are  hungry  lor  fresh 
meat,  not  havinu  tasted  any  since  the  preceding  November. 

All  of  the  driving  is  done  tinder  the  immediate  and  exclusive  direc- 
tions ot'  the  native  chief,  who  is  the  most  experienced  and  most  trust- 
wori  h  v  m;in  on  t  lie  island. 

Shmdd  the  >eals  happen  to  lie  near  the  water,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
wait  till  the  tide  runs  out  before  disturbing  them.  At  the  proper  time 
a  do/en  men  are  on  the  ground,  and  silently  and  swiftly  running  in 
-inii'h-  file  alonjj,  the  beach  they  form  a  line  between  the  seals  ami  the 
sea  :  and  i  hen  t  lie  stall  led  animals  will  immediate  A  start  inland,  where 
they  are  sin  \\  ly  followed  by  t  he  men.  nut  il  t  hey  are  too  far  from  t  he  beach 
to  esc  a  pc  to  the  wa!  <T.  when  t  hev  are  put  in  charge  of  t  hree  or  tour  of  t  he 
men.  \\  ho  bri  n^'  them  alon  u  slo\\  ly  to  the  killing  li'rouiuls,  which  is  never 
less  than  half  a  mile  away  from  the  nearest  breeding  seals.  No  other 
part  of  the  work  done  in  taking  seal  skins  is  more  carefully  performed 
than  the  dri\  in.u'  of  seals:  t  hey  are  never  driven  at  a  pace  greater  than 
about  OIK-  mile  in  three  hours,  and  mo>t  of  the  driving  is  done  during 
i  he  n  i  u  1 1 1 .  M)  as  to  take  advantage  of  the  dew  a  ud  moisture,  and  to  avoid 
the  sudden  appearance  of  the  sun.  \\  hich  is  always  more  or  less  injuri- 
ous to  seal  life  on  a  drive.  The  stories  told  by  interested  men  about 
careless  and  reckless  driving  are  not  true.  and.  for  obvious  reasons, 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIB1LOF    ISLANDS.  53 

can  not  be  true,  because  overdriving  means  overheating,  and  an  over- 
heated fur  seal  is  one  from  which  the  fur  has  fallen  and  left  the  skin 
valueless,  and  that  means  a  loss  to  natives,  lessees,  and  Government 
alike.  As  there  is  no  one  to  beneiit  by  overdriving,  it  is  never  indulged 
in;  and  during  an  experience  of  six  years  on  the  islands  I  never  saw  a 
skin  injured  by  overheating  or  overdriving. 

As  most  of  the  drives  are  made  in  the  night,  the  seals  are  allowed  to 
lie  in  the  damp  grass  around  the  killing  grounds  lor  several  hours  before 
killing  takes  place:  and  it  is  customary  to  allow  them  to  rest  for  a  few 
hours,  no  matter  when  they  are  driven,  because  if  is  best  for  the  skin 
and  for  the  tlesh  that  the  animal  be  killed  while  it  is  cool  and  quiet 
rather  than  while  it  may  be  warm  and  excited. 

There  are  four  different  and  well-deiined  killing  grounds  on  St.  Paul 
Island,  from  some  one  of  which  the  most  distant  hauling  ground  or 
rookery  is  not  to  exceed  liA  miles. 

On  St.  George  there  are  two  killing  grounds,  from  some  one  of  which 
the  most  distant  rookery  or  hauling  ground  is  not  to  exceed  3  miles, 
and  during  the  past  fifteen  years  there  has  not  been  a  longer  drive  made 
on  either  island  than  3  miles,  interested  parties  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. 

Generally  the  killing  is  done  just  after  breakfast,  and  the  whole  pop- 
ulation turns  out  and  takes  part  in  the  work. 

The  men  and  boys  are  divided  into  grades  or  classes:  Clubbers,  stick- 
ers, fiipperers,  and  skinners;  the  women  and  girls  following  the  skinners 
and  taking  care  of  the  blubber  and  meat. 

Two  men  at  opposite  sides  of  the  herd  will,  by  advancing  till  they 
meet,  cut  out  twenty  or  thirty  seals  from  the  main  body  and  drive  them 
up  to  the  killing  ground,  where  six  experienced  men  stand  armed  with 
clubs  of  ash  or  hickory  about  5i  feet  long  and  about  3  inches  thick  at 
the  heavier  end,  which  end  is  generally  bound  in  sheet  iron  to  prevent 
its  destruction  by  the  continuous  biting  of  the  seals. 

The  clubbers  are  under  the  immediate  orders  of  the  lessee's  local 
agent  who  is  a  man  of  large  experience  in  seal  work,  one  who  can  tell 
at  a  glance  how  much  the  skin  of  any  particular  seal  will  weigh,  and 
he  points  out  the  seals  to  be  clubbed. 

A  smart  blow  on  the  head  knocks  the  seal  down  and  stuns  him,  and 
if  the  blow  has  been  properly  dealt  he  never  recovers;  but  quite  often 
it  requires  two  to  three  blows  from  a  bungler  to  finish  him.  The 
clubbed  seals  are  dragged  into  line  and  counted,  and  then  "stuck" 
and  u  fiippered,"  or,  in  other  words,  they  are  stabbed  to  the  heart  and 
allowed  to  bleed  freely;  and  then  a  knife  is  drawn  around  the  head 
and  flippers,  severing  the  skin  and  leaving  it  ready  for  the  skinner, 
who  strips  it  off  in  short  order  and  spreads  it  evenly  on  the  damp 
grass,  flesh  side  down,  to  cool. 

These  several  operations  are  repeated  till  the  desired  number  are 
killed,  when  the  remaining  seals  are  allowed  to  go  into  the  water  and 
return  to  the  hauling  grounds. 

After  the  skin  has  been  removed,  the  women  take  the  carcass  and, 
after  stripping  on"  the  blubber  or  fat,  cut  off  the  choice  meat  in  strips 
to  dry:  and,  when  dried,  they  pack  it  into  the  dried  stomach  of  the  sea 
lion,  where  it  is  kept  air  tight  and  preserved  for  an  indefinite  period. 

The  remainder  of  the  seal  is  boiled  and  eaten  as  wanted. 

When  all  the  seals  killed  are  skinned,  the  skins  are  taken  by  wagon 
to  the  salt  house,  where  they  are  assorted  and  carefully  inspected  by  the 
lessee's  agent,  who  throws  out  as  rejected  all  skins  that  do  not  come 
up  to  a  certain  standard.  There  are  three  classes  of  rejected  skins, 
namely:  cut,  small,  and  stagy. 


.)4  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

A  cut  skin  is  one  that  has  been  bitten  through  by  one  seal  biting 
another  during  one  of  their  many  battles,  or  it  may  have  been  acci- 
dentally cut  during  the  operation  of  skinning:  a  small  skin  is  one  that 
weighs  a  little  less  than  the  minimum  standard  set  up  by  the  lessee's 
agent,  generally  less  than  U  pounds.  After  July  the  fur  seal  sheds  his 
hair,  and  it  i>  during  the  shedding  season,  when  the  old  hair  is  falling 
out  and  before  the  new  hair  has  attained  its  full  growth,  that  the  skin 
is  said  to  be  stagy. 

The  fur  of  a  stagy  skin  is  just  as  good  as  any  other:  but  the  half- 
grown  new  hair,  being  shorter  than  the  fur.  can  not  be  plucked  out  by 
hand  or  by  machinery,  and  is  therefore  considered  a  blemish  on  the 
skin,  in  consequence  of  which  its  price  and  value  are  naturally  lowered 
in  the  market. 

Heretofore,  and  until  the  adoption  of  the  modus  vivendi  in  1S1H,  it 
was  customary  to  allow  the  natives  to  kill  seals  for  food  at  any  and  all 
times  when  they  were  to  be  found  on  the  islands.  And  it  was  in  this 
way.  and  in  this  way  only,  that  stagy  skins  were  ever  taken  and  wasted, 
because  all  skins  that  are  rejected  by  the  lessee's  agent  are  wasted  so 
far  as  (loverninent  interests  and  revenue  are  concerned. 

No  killing  should  be  permitted  for  any  purpose  whatsoever  during 
the  stagy  season,  say  from  July  '•>[  to  November  !."». 

After  a  thorough  inspection,  the  skins  are  counted  one  by  one  in 
presence  of  the  Treasury  agent,  who  makes  a  record  of  the  same  in  a 
book  kept  for  that  purpose,  and  in  which  he  also  enters  the  date  of  the 
drive,  the  rookery  driven  from,  the  hour  of  driving,  the  state1  of  the 
weather,  the  number  of  seals  killed,  the  number  of  skins  accepted, 
the  number  rejected,  and  the  cause  of  such  rejection. 

The  accepted  skins  are  then  salted  by  the  natives  in  presence  Jiud 
under  the  direction  of  the  native  chief  and  the  lessee's  agent.  The 
skins  are  spread  on  the  lloor.  hair  side  down,  and  covered  with  a  layer 
of  coarse  salt:  again  a  layer  of  skins  is  laid  on  and  covered  with  salt 
as  before,  and  the  operation  is  repeated  until  all  are  salted. 

After  lying  for  at  lea^t  live  days  in  the  first  salt  they  are  shaken  out 
and  examined,  and  resalted  as  before,  excepting  that  the  top  layer  is 
now  put  down  first  and  the  original  position  of  all  layers  reversed. 

\Yhen  sufficiently  cured  they  are  bundled  by  the  ual  ives.  who.  spread- 
ing a  thin  laver  of  salt  between  two  skins,  lay  them  llesh  side  to  llesh 
side,  and  fold  the  two  into  a  neat .  compact  bundle,  which  they  tie 
securely  with  strong  l  wine,  and  throw  into  the  pile  for  shipping.  From 
the  >hippjng  pile  l  hey  are  again  counted  out.  bundle  by  bundle,  by  the 
Treasurv  agent,  in  whose  presence  they  are  always  taken  from  the  salt 
house  to  the  boa!,  from  which  they  aie  again  counted  by  I  he  mate  into 
the  steamer  that  takes  them  to  San  f'rancisco.  wheie  they  are  counted 
once  more  by  the  ciist'ims  officers,  and  finally  packed  into  barrels  by 
the  lessees  and  shipped  direct  to  London  via  New  York. 

Karlv  in  lh«-  morning  of  August  1.  IS'.M.  a  drive  was  made  from  the 
Reef  rookery  in  presence  of  Mr.  Ilamiin.  who  accompanied  the  native 
men  who  did  the  work,  and  \\  ho  was  present  throughout  the  whole  oper- 
ation of  diivinv.'.  killing,  and  skinning  the  seals,  inspecting,  assorting, 
counting,  and  salting  tlie  skins,  just  as  t  he  same  opera!  ions  have  been 
performed  every  killing  season  for  the  past  quarter  of  a  century.1 

on!\  exception  to  this  is  in  tlie  mot  hod  of  k  i  1 1  inu.  The  olden  rule  was  to 
fh  m;.n  to  first  k  nock  dow  n  his  share  and  t  hen  t  urn  in  and  skin  them,  but, 
ice  l:iuuiil  us  that  this  was  had  policy,  tor  the  carcasses  that  were  allowed  to 
d  stiffen  before  .,kinnin^  uere  very  apt  to  have  their  skins  injured  in  the 
HI.  In-nee  the  ;idoption  of  the  present  improved  system. 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    I'KIHILOF    ISLANDS.  55 

During  our  live  days1  stay  on  St.  Paul  Island  we  inspected  all  the 
rookeries,  walking  over  many  of  them,  and  1  carefully  noted  their  con- 
dition, the  sparsely  settled  breeding  grounds,  the  deserted  hauling 
grounds,  and  the  desolate  appearance  of  the  place  in  comparison  with 
what  1  saw  there  only  live  years  ago.  when  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
seals  swarmed  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  ground  that  is  now  bare 
and  abandoned. 

Next  to  the  shriveled  condition  of  the  seal  herd  as  a  whole,  the  most 
noted  change  1  observed  on  the  breeding  grounds  since  1881)  was  the 
great  number  of  idle  bulls,  young  and  vigorous,  lying  around  in  all 
directions,  watching  an  opportunity  to  secure  cows. 

They  can  not  succeed,  however,  for  during  the  past  ten  years  the 
cows  have  been  the  quarry  of  the  pelagic  sealer,  whose  improved  meth- 
ods of  hunting  in  the  open  waters,  and  whose  unceasing,  unerring,  and 
merciless  hunting  of  them  at  all  seasons,  have  at  length  succeeded  in 
destroying  at  least  a  million  nursing  mothers,  who,  with  their  starved 
offspring  and  unborn  young,  represent  a  loss  of  many  millions,  which 
in  turn  accounts  for  the  acres  of  bare  and  unoccupied  rookery  ground 
over  which  we  walked  without  rinding  a  seal.  When  in  1891  I  inspected 
the  same  rookeries  1  counted  1,250  idle  bulls  at  t;ie  very  height  of  the 
rutting  season,  and  I  have  since  observed  a  steady  increase  of  breeding 
bulls  as  the  herd  continued  as  steadily  to  decrease  as  a  whole. 

So  plain  and  palpable  has  this  increase  of  bulls  been  for  the  past  live 
years,  it  has  become  a  topic  of  general  conversation  among  those  who 
have  had  opportunities  to  observe  the  rookeries  from  year  to  year  dur- 
ing the  breeding  season:  and  in  his  annual  report  for  1S94  the  agent 
in  charge  of  the  islands  says: 

The  only  class  of  seals  that  showed  an  increase  over  last  year  were  the  young  bulls, 
who  were  unable  to  find  a  single  cow  with  which  to  start  a  ha  rein  on  the  rookeries. 
There  were  more  idle  bulls  of  breeding  age  than  there  were  bulls  with  harems  oil 
the  breeding  grounds.  (See  Report  of  Joseph  1>.  Crow  ley.  1^9L) 

Another  very  important  feature  observed  in  our  inspection  of  the 
rookeries  in  1894  was  the  absence  of  dead  pups  in  the  early  part  of 
August,  for  up  to  our  leaving  on  the  8th  1  had  not  seen  a  dead  pup  on 
the  island,  and  the  agent  in  charge,  who  was  on  St.  Paul  Island  from 
June  to  the  latter  part  of  August  and  who  kept  a  close  watch  for  dead 
pups,  tells  me  now  that  it  was  not  till  about  August  UO  there  was  a 
dead  pup  to  be  seen,  but  from  that  date  to  the  close  of  the  season, 
according  to  official  communications  received  from  the  islands,  the  car- 
casses of  dead  pups,  starved  and  emaciated,  increased  with  appalling 
rapidity  until  12,000  were  counted  by  the  assistant  agents. 

The  agents  report  that  they  actually  counted  12,000  dead  pups  on  the 
accessible  portions  of  the  rookeries  to  which  they  could  go  without  dis- 
turbing the  seals,  and  after  making  due  allowance  for  the  portions  not 
visited  at  all,  they  believe  that  a  fair  estimate  of  the  total  number  of 
dead  pups  on  the  two  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  in  1894  would 
aggregate  20,000.  (See  report  of  Joseph  13.  Crowley,  1894.) 

And  .Mr.  Joseph  B.  Crowley  tells  us  that — 

Every  precaution  was  taken  to  count  only  such  as  appeared  to  have  died  late  in 
the  season.  None  of  the  small  young  pups  which  showed  decay  and  bore  the  appear- 
ance of  having  died  early  in  the  breeding  season  were  counted.  *  I  do  not 
make  recklessly  the  statement  of  the  death  of  pups  Irom  starvation.  There  is  posi- 
tive proof  of  it.  I  witnessed  the  beginning  of  its  disastrous  results  the  last  of 
August  before  leaving  the  islands.  Visiting  the  rookeries  in  person,  I  found  hundreds 
of  pups  which  had  lately  died.  They  bore  every  appearance  of  having  died  of  starva- 
tion. Hundreds  that  were  yet  alive  were  so  wasted  and  weak  they  could  scarcely 
drag  themselves  over  the  rocks  and  would  not  attempt  to  get  out  of  the  way  when 
approached.  (Report  of  J.  B.  Crowley,  1894.) 


f)<!  >KA1.    LIFK    ON    THK    1'RIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

••  \Y  iiat  is  t  IK-  cause  of  tin-  death  of  so  many  fur-seal  pups  ? "  lias  been 
asked  many  times  during  the  past  live  years'  discussion  of  the  seal 
(jucstioii.  and  many  eonilicting  ans\\ers  have  l>een  given.  1  think  tlie 
following,  under  i  he  circumstances,  is  an  answer  that  can  not  be  contra- 
dicted.  The  pelagic  sealing  season  opened  in  liering  Sea  on  August  1, 
is:»  |.  in  accordance  with  t  he  international  regulations  made  possible  by 
the  Uering  Sea  Tribunal,  under  which  pelagic  sealers  arc  licensed  to 
kill  seals,  with  spears,  outside  of  the  00  mile  /.one  around  the  seal  islands, 
and  imincdi'ilely  we  see  the  result  of  their  work  in  the  thousands  of 
pups  <tarved  t«>  death  after  then  mothers  had  been  killed  at  sea  by  the 
men  whose  right  to  kill  them,  at  certain  seasons,  has  been  established 
ami  acknowledged  by  the  very  t  ribunal  t  hat  was  created  for  the  purpose 
of  preventing1  the  destruction  of  the  fur  seal  herd. 

One  of  the  most  horrible  and  harrowing  sights  imaginable  is  that  of 
being  Mirroiiiided  on  the  bleak  and  inhospitable  shores  of  the  Pribilof 
Islands  by  thousands  ol'  dead  and  dying1  pup  seals  whose  death  has  been 
the  result  of  slow  starvation,  and  whose  hungry  cries  and  almost  human 
appeal--  tor  food  and  life  must  be  made1  in  v:  in,  for,  no  matter  how  willing 
and  anxious  one  may  be  to  render  assistance,  one  feels  it  is  bevond 
human  power  to  arrest  the  gnawing1  of  hunger  in  an  animal  who  is 
totally  dependent  for  sustenance  on  a  mother  who  was  killed  a  month 
ago  by  pelagic  sealers! 

Those  who  once  witnessed  such  a  >ighi  never  can  forget  it.  and  occa- 
sionally I  receive  letters  from  some  o:  them  which  run  somewhat  like 
the  following: 

I  >o  i  e'l  me  what    i>   in   IK-   done    with   the    lew    remaining   seals.  1 1'  these 

steps  had  been  taken  lasl  year,  even,  tlu-re  iiii^ht  ha\el>een  enough  left  to  tell  the 
tale,  lint  a-  it  is  I  can  not  hut  Ceel  \vh:>i  a  pilialde  si^ht  the  rookeries  will  present 
next  veal'.  ll  was  d  iseoii  i  aej  ui;  enoi!  <_Ji  last  spring  when  1  eonrpai'ed  the  rookeries 
wi'h  \\hai  1  had  seen  jusi  t  lie  \  ear  In-Core.  My  heart  l>h-d  Cor  the  poor  starving  pups 
so  inneh.  tin-  last  stroll  1  took  on  the  rookeries,  that  i  eonld  never  <;o  hack.  I  don't 
see  how  the  .jud;_r<'  eophl  stand  to  see  1 1  i.t  it '( I  de  id  ones.  It  would  have  hroken  my 
heart  I  know.  The  morning  we  eaine  into  1  Mitch  llaihor  on  our  voyaue  down  we 
sa  \\  three  sealing  vessels  sailing  on  t  to\vard  the  ('.('-miles  limit.  Oh.  what  a  Caree. 
what  a  snare  and  delu.-ion  that  lid-mile  limit  \\  a  > !  l(ow  eonld  anxone  who  had 
e\  (  r  lieen  io  the  sea]  inlands  ami  noted  the  hahits  ol'  tlie  feeding  cows  ever  rccoui- 
niend  such  a  murderous  proposi  t  ion  .'  Kven  1  knew  lielter  than  that.  I>ut 

l:;.(H")  cn\\  s  taken  stau'-ere  1  me.  !  had.  expected  a'.out  ."i.JUMI  or  (i. <)<)(>.  and  even  enl- 
elllated  the  teriil>le  eouse(|  iieuce  upon  the  rookeries,  lnit  lii.UlKl!  that  was  terrihle, 
terri'de  ! 

The  \\  ri  t  er  of  tliat  let  t  er  is  the  \\'ile  oi'  t  he  Treasury  agen  t .  a  n  A  mer 
ican  lady  of  ('hristian  education,  culture,  and  refinement,  who  natu- 
rally felt  horrified  at  the  sight  she  saw  on  the  rookeries,  and,  like  the 
tender  and  merciful  woman  she  is.  she  denounces  the  system,  regula- 
tion, custom,  or  whatever  else  it  may  be  called,  which  makes  such  suf 
fering  possible. 

One  inM;iiice  in  this  connection  worth  recording  is  that  of  a  pelagic 
sealer  \\hose  heart  was  touched  by  the  pitilnl  cries  of  an  orphan  pup. 
and  the  story  is  told  by  an  eye\\  it  ne-s  under  oat  h  : 

O|  the  -eal>  th;it  we]  e  ca  n  <_•  h  1  oi!  the  coast  Cull\  !»()  on!  of  every  !<>()  had  youn^ 
pup-  in  them.  The  lioats  would  l,nn,LC  the  seals  on  hoard  the  \c>sel,  and  we  would 
take  the  v(.iiii'_:  pup--  out  and  skin  them.  1C  the  pup  is  i^ood  and  a  nic--  one,  we 
would.-!. in  li  and  keep  it  for  oursi  1  vrs.  I  hadei^hl  such  skins  myseJ  I.  l'«urout 
oC  ti  \  e.  il  ca  mhl  :u  Max  or  June,  would  he  alive,  \\heu  we  cut  them  out  ol'  their 
motheis.  One  ol'  t  hem  we  kept  Co  i  jirettyne.il'  t  hrce  weeks  a  1  i  ve  oil  deck  h\  Ceed- 
iie^  it  on  eoiideu-i-d  nd  I  k.  One  ol'  t  he  men  linall^  1\  i  1  led  it  lieea  u  -e  i  t  cried  so  pit  i- 
Cu!l  .  A  Cnda  il  of  \  Ilied  !  >:i  rde.i  u. 

The  reverse  -ide  of  the  qiic.-tioii  is  that  held  by  the  average  pelagic 
sealer.  \\  ho  kill-  the  nmt  hei  cal  and  cuts  out  her  unborn  voting  or 
lea  \  es  the  born  \ounu  to  slo\\  !  v  st  ar\'e  to  death  on  the  rookeries. 


SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    J'KIHILOK    ISLANDS.  f>  7 

The  British  Bering  Sea  commissioners  in  this  connection  stated: 

The  fnr  of  the  female  is  equally  good  with  that  of  the  male,  and  under  the  condi- 
tions under  which  the  hunting  is  carried  on,  there  is  room  lor  no  sentimental  eonsid- 
eiations  in  favor  of  either  sex. 

I  was  informed  by  the  Treasury  agent  and  others  who  had  wintered 
on  the  seal  islands  that  the  winter  of  18!>3-9A  had  been  one  of  unusual 
severity,  rigor,  and  length,  and  that  the  seals  had  been  much  later  in 
hauling  out  than  for  many  years  past. 

This  happens  occasionally,  for  whenever  it  is  unusually  cold  during*  the 
spring  and  early  summer  months,  and  the  ice  hangs  around  the  islands 
till  the  latter  end  of  May  or  early  Julie,  the  seals  will  not  or  can  not 
haul  out  until  passages  are  made  and  the  rocks  and  beach  cleared  of 
ice;  all  of  which  had  to  be  done  last  season. 

From  the  same  source  I  also  learned  that  never  before,  since  the 
United  States  owned  the  islands,  were  seals  so  few  upon  the  rookeries 
during  the  killing  season  of  June  and  July,  and  that  the  20,000  killa- 
bles  allowed  to  betaken  this  year  were  not  to  be  found  unless  the 
standard  weight  and  size  should  be  lowered  by  the  lessees  and  smaller 
seals  taken.  As  the  lessees  have  not  taken  any  skins  weighing  less 
than  7  pounds,  and  have  killed  some  10,000  first-class  seals,  1  have  no 
doubt  of  their  being  able  to  get  20,000  had  they  chosen  to  take  4,000 
skins  weighing  from  5  to  6  pounds  each. 

This  opens  up  a  question  of  the  utmost  importance  to  our  Govern- 
ment, for  if  we  can  not  tind  20,000  young  male  seals  on  the  seal  islands, 
whose  skins  will  weigh  from  7  to  12  pounds  each,  after  a  modus  vivendi, 
and  a  general  rest  of  nearly  four  years,  it  is  most  assuredly  time  for  us 
to  search  for  the  cause  of  the  steady  decrease  of  the  fur-seal  herd. 

To  all  those  whose  long  and  practical  experience  on  the  islands  and 
among  the  seals  gives  them  a  right  to  be  heard,  the  explanation  is  not- 
hard,  but  unfortunately,  because  of  many  clashing  interests,  there  has 
been  a  glamor  of  secrecy  and  sacreduess  thrown  around  the  fur  seal 
question,  by  and  through  which  plain,  practical,  business  men  have 
been  debarred  from  expressing  an  opinion,  or,  having  dared  to  express 
one,  have  been  tabooed  by  interested  parties.  For  years  the  cause  of 
the  decrease  in  the  seal  herd  has  been  discussed  with  unabated  vigor; 
so-called  improved  methods  of  all  sorts  have  been  suggested,  and  a 
few  of  them  tried ;  and,  finally,  when  the  question  assumed  international 
proportions,  arbitration  was  resorted  to  in  hopes  of  forever  settling  a 
vexed  question  and  of  saving  from  total  extinction  the  remnants  of  our 
seal  herd  that  had,  only  a  few  years  ago,  been  numbered  by  the  millions 
and  valued  at  nearly  |1<H),  000,000. 

In  spite  of  all  that  has  been  done  thus  far,  however,  the  seal  herd  is 
rapidly  decreasing,  and  in  the  very  nature  of  things  must  continue  to 
decrease  so  long  as  scores  of  ships  and  thousands  of  men  are  permitted 
to  hunt  them  in  the  open  sea  and  kill  them  without  regard  to  age,  sex, 
or  condition. 

There  is  no  more  mystery  about  the  cause  of  the  decrease  and  destruc- 
tion of  the  fur-seal  herd  than  there  would  be  about  the  decrease  of  a 
herd  of  cattle  on  the  plains  of  Colorado  if  the  owner  should  continue  to 
sell  or  kill,  or  allow  someone  else  to  sell  or  kill,  his  breeding  cows  for  a 
series  of  years,  or  until  they  were  all  gone. 

Twice  since  the  discovery  of  the  seal  islands  and  during  Russian 
occupation  have  the  seals  been  almost  exterminated  because  of  the 
indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the  female,  or  mother  seal,  for  it  is  well 
known  that  the  Russians  continued  to  slaughter  everything  on  the 


58  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLAN7DS. 

islands  without  regard  to  age,  sex,  or  condition  until  1834,  when  the 
question  of  total  extermination  stared  them  in  the  face. 
Veniaminov  tells  us: 

From  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  up  to  1805  the  taking  of  fur 
seals  progressed  without  count  or  lists,  and  without  responsible  heads  or  chiefs, 
.because  then  (1787  to  1805,  inclusive)  there  were  a  number  of  companies,  represented 
by  as  many  agents  or  leaders,  and  all  of  them  vied  with  each  other  in  taking  as  many 
as  they  could  before  the  killing  was  stopped.  After  this,  in  1806  and  1807,  there 
were  no  seals  taken,  and  nearly  all  the  people  were  removed  to  Unalaska. 

In  1808  the  killing  was  ;igain  commenced,  but  the  people  in  this  year  were  allowed 
to  kill  only  on  St.  (George.  On  St.  Paul  hunters  were  not  permitted  this  year  or  the 
next. 

It  was  not  until  the  fourth  year  after  this  that  as  many  as  half  the  number  pre- 
viously taken  were  annually  killed. 

From  this  time  (St.  George  1808  and  St.  Paul  1810)  up  to  1822,  taking  fur  seals  pro- 
gressed on  both  islands  without  economy  and  with  slight  circumspection  as  if  there 
were  a  race  in  killing  for  the  most  skins.  Cows  were  taken  in  drives  and  killed,  and 
were  also  driven  from  the  rookeries  to  places  where  they  were  slaughtered.  (Elliott's 
translation.) 

AndMr.  Elliott,  commenting  on  Veniaminov's  zapieska.  tells  us  that — 

A  study  of  this  killing  throughout  the  zapooska  of  1834  on  St.  Paul  Island  shows 
that  for  a  period  of  sevr n  years,  from  1835  down  to  the  close  of  the  season  of  1841,  no 
seals  practically  were  killed  save  those  that  were  needed  for  food  and  clothing  by  the 
natives,  and  that  in  1835  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  this  industry  on  these 
islands,  was  the  vital  principle  of  not  killing  female  seals  recognized.  It  will  be 
noticed  that-  the  entry  for  each  and  every  year  distinctly  specifies  so  many  bachelor 
seals  or  holluschickovkotovie. 

The  sealing  in  those  days  was  carried  on  all  through  the  summer  until  the  seals 
left  in  October  or  November,  on  account  of  the  tedious  method  then  in  vogue  of  air 
drying  the  skins.  This  caused  them  in  driving  after  the  breaking  up  of  the  breeding 
season  by  the  end  of  July,  to  take  up  at  first  hundreds,  and  thousands  later  on,  of  the 
females,  but  they  never  spared  those  cows  then  when  they  arrived  in  the  droves  on 
the  killing  grounds,  prior  to  this  date  above  quoted,  of  1835.  (Elliott's  report,  1890.  > 

Ignoring  for  the  moment  all  that  has  been  said  about  the  thought- 
lessness and  brutality  of  the  Russian  methods  of  driving  and  killing 
seals,  and  of  the  incalculable  waste  arising  therefrom,  which  resulted  in 
the  almost  total  destruction  of  the  species  on  two  occasions,  it  is  never- 
theless true  that  after  many  years  of  bitter  experience  they  did  learn  to 
do  better;  and  when  they  turned  the  property  over  to  the  United  States 
in  18G8  there  were  nearly  5,000,000 l  of  seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands, 
and  that  for  a  period  of  sixteen  years  afterwards  there  was  neither 
decrease  nor  diminution  perceptible  in  those  immense  and  valuable  herds. 

Dr.  H.  II.  Mclntyre,  who  was  the  general  superintendent  for  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company  during  the  whole  time  of  their  twenty- 
year  lease  of  the  seal  islands,  writing,  confidentially,  to  his  employers  in 
1889,  says: 

The  breeding  rookeries  from  the  beginning  of  the  lease  till  1882  or  1883  were,  I 
believe,  constantly  increasing  in  area  and  population,  and  my  observations  in  this 
direction  are  in  accordance  with  those  of  Mr.  Morgan,  Mr.  Webster,  and  others,  who 
have  been  for  many  years  with  me  in  your  service,  and  of  the  late  special  Treasury 
agent,  J.  M.  Morton,  who  was  on  the  islands  from  1870  to  1880.  (See  H.  H.  Mclntyre 
to  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  July  16,  1889,  Appendix.) 

And  Mr.  Henry  W.  Elliott,  writing  in  1881,  fully  corroborates  the 
foregoing  when  he  tells  us — 

There  Trere  no  more  seals  seen  here  by  human  eyes  in  1786  and  1787  than  there  are 
now  in  1881,  as  far  as  all  evidence  goes.  (Elliott's  Seal  Islands  of  Alaska,  p.  66.) 

1  Grand  sum  total  for  the  Pribilof  Islands  (season  of  1873),  breeding  seals  and 
young,  3,193,420.  The  noubreeding  seals  seem  nearly  equal  in  number  to  that  of  the 
adult  breeding  seals;  but,  without  putting  them  down  at  a  figure  quite  so  high,  I 
may  safely  say  that  the  sum  total  of  1,500,000,  in  round  numbers,  is  a  fair  enumera- 
tion, and  quite  within  bounds  of  fact.  This  makes  the  grand  sum  total  of  the  fur- 
seal  life  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  over  4,700,000.  (Elliott,  The  Fur-Seal  Islands  of 
Alaska,  pp.  61,  62.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIHILOF    ISLANDS.  59 

It  was  in  1873  that.  Mr.  Klliott  estimated  the  number  of  seals  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands  at  4,700,000,  and  he  again  tells  us  in  1SS1  that  the 
seals  never  had  been  more  numerous  than  they  were  then;  but  in  1890 
lie  found  them  reduced  to  959,393  seals,  including  everything  on  the 
islands,  or  about  one-fifth  of  what  the  herd  had  been  in  1873. 

Ill  1891  the  Treasury  agents  on  the  seal  islands  were  instructed  to 
make  daily  visits  to  the  rookeries  during  the  breeding  season  for  the 
purpose  of  noting  the  peculiar  habits  of  the  seals  and  carefully  estimat- 
ing their  numbers  at  various  dates  on  each  rookery,  and  the  highest 
estimate  made,  not  including  the  pups,  was  somewhat  less  than  half  a- 
million. 

1  was  one  of  the  agents  who  did  this  work  in  1891,  and  I  have  spent 
hours  and  days  and  weeks,  in  turn,  watching  the  cows  from  their  first 
landing.  They  would  often  stay  away  from  their  offspring  for  a  week 
at  a  time. 

I  have  selected  a  favorable  location  on  the  lleef  rookery,  where  I  was- 
soine  30  feet  above  the  harem  and  out  of  danger  of  being  discovered  by 
the  seals  below,  and  I  have  watched  one  particular  pup  from  its  birth 
until  it  was  a  month  old;  and  I  found  that  the  cow  left  it  for  an  hour  or 
two  only  at  first,  then  for  a  day,  and  by  the  end  of  the  month  for  four 
to  six  days  at  a  time. 

This  fact,  coupled  with  another  that  I  observed  in  1890,  convinced 
me  that  the  fur  seals  do  not  digest  their  food  as  rapidly  as  some  other  ani- 
mals, and  consequently  they  can  live  longer  without  eating  or  drinking. 

The  other  fact  referred  to  is  this:  In  1890  we  killed  for  the  natives 
on  St.  Paul  Island  some  2,3G4  pups,  after  all  the  cows  had  been  gone 
from  the  island  for  more  than  two  weeks,  and  we  found  the  stomachs 
of  all  those  pups  full  of  pure,  undigested  milk. 

I  walked  over  all  the  rookeries  on  St.  Paul  Island  twice  during  the 
season  of  1891,  beginning  at  Halfway  Point  on  July  7,  and  completing 
the  second  journey  at  Northeast  Point  on  July  22,  and  the  highest  esti- 
mate I  made  of  the  number  of  seals  on  each  was  as  follows: 


K'ookery.  Sc;ils.  Rookery.  Seals. 


Northrasi  Point  

149  975 

Middle  Hill 

5  J50 

Reef  

93,  150 

Ketavie 

5  075 

Halfway  Point 

10  500 

16  GOO 

Tolstoi  and  1  <ai;ooii  

82  650 

/apadnit'  and  Kast  /apadnic  

86,  200 

Total  not  includin<T  pups 

481  350 

Euirlish  B.iv  ... 

32.  050 

This  estimate  was  made  on  the  basis  of  an  average  of  40  cows  to  each 
bull,  and  it  was  assumed  that  only  one  half  the  bulls  were  in  sight  at 
any  one  time,  or,  in  other  words,  we  could  not  get  close  enough  to  see 
them  without  disturbing  the  seals,  so  we  multiplied  the  number  found: 
by  2,  and  the  product  by  40,  in  order  to  obtain,  approximately,  the  num- 
ber of  seals  on  a  rookery. 

It  is  possible,  of  course,  that  the  method  of  computation  adopted  was 
not  the  best  and  that  we  probably  missed  the  real  number  by  many 
thousands,  plus  or  minus,  but  for  all  practical  purposes  of  comparison 
between  the  condition  of  the  rookeries  in  1891  and  1894  it  is  as  good  as 
perfection,  for  it  is  enough  to  show  that  no  matter  how  many  seals  were 
there  in  1891,  not  to  exceed  one-half  of  the  number  were  to  be  found  in 
1894. 

The  same  is  equally  true  of  St.  George,  where  the  rookeries,  because 
of  their  relatively  smaller  area,  show  the  decrease  at  a  glance  to  any- 


<>(»  ^\:\\.   LIFK  o.\   TIM-:   I'uir.n.or   ISLANDS. 

one  wlio  was  on  the  i>land  a  few  years  ago,  and  who  ever  paid  any 
attention  to  the  seals  when  the  rookeries  were  tilled  out  to  their  fullest, 
and  thousands  were  to  be  seen  spoiling"  in  the  waters  around  them. 

Indeed.  1  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  there  was  not  to  exceed  -'100.000 
seals  on  St.  1'anl  and  St.  tieorge  islands  in  August.  1S1M. 

It  is  here  the  questions  naturally  arise.  "What  is  the  cause  of  the 
decrease  of  the  seal  herd.'  Is  there  a  reined v:  and  if  so.  how  can  it 
be  applied  .'" 

I  shall  attempt  to  answer  the  questions  in  the  order  in  which  1  have 
Mated  them,  and  I  aim  to  show  that  all  of  my  own  views  are  in  strict 
a c co I'd  \\  it  h  t  hose  whose  disinterestedness,  practical  knowledge,  or  sci- 
euti  Me  attainments  warrant  t  hem  in  expressing1  views  on  t  he  question  at 
issue. 

And  it  will  be  found,  i  think,  that  while  we  may  ditfer  in  on;-  estimates 
of  the  number  of  sea's  on  the  islands  at  any  particular  time  or  period, 
or  that  our  notions  about  methods  and  management  may  never  be  exactly 
alike,  we  are  all  agreed  that  the  cause  of  the  decrease  of  the  fur  seal  herd 
is  pelagic  sealing. 

Speaking  for  myself.after  an  experience  of  six  years  on  the  seal  islands, 
I  have  no  doubt  that  were  it  not  lor  pelagic  sealing  the  seal  herd  would 
be  as  numerous  and  as  nourishing  today  as  it  was  in  ISiiS  or  1SS1,  or 
at  any  other  period  since  the  discovery  of  the  islands:  nor  is  it  at  ran- 
dom or  without  long  study  that  I  say  this,  {or  1  have  given  the  subject 
a  great  deal  of  serious  thought  during  the  world-wide  discussion  of  the 
question  since  ISW). 

When  the  question  of  the  decrease  of  the  seal  herd  was  first  men 
tioned  publicly  as  a  reality,  theories  as  numerous  as  the  men  who  enter- 
tained them  were  offered  in  explanation  of  the  cause  of  such  decrease, 
and  tor  awhile  it  was  argued  with  consummate  ability  and  persistent 
energy  by  Mr.  II.  W.  Klliott.  who  was  considered  an  authority  on  all 
that  relates  to  fur  seals,  that  the  driving1  from  the  hauling  to  t  he  killing 
grounds  injuied  the  young  males  to  the  extent  of  impotency.  and  thus 
unfitted  them  at  maturity  for  service  on  the  breeding  grounds. 

A  mere  idle  guess  at  first,  this  theory  was  pushed  to  the  front  with 
energy,  although,  could  angry  personal  feelings  and  prejudice  have  been 
eliminated  from  the  controversy,  the  gentleman  might  have  discovered 
what  every  scientist,  naturalist,  and  impartial  observer  saw  from  the 
first,  that  so  long  as  all  t  he  cows  on  the  rookeries  had  pups  beside  them 
in  season,  and  every  mature  cow  killed  at  sea  was  either  a  nursing 
mother  or  about  to  become  one,  the  theory  of  a  scarcity  of  bulls  could 
not  be  maintained.  And  after  the  passions  and  prejudices  existing  on 
the  seal  islands  in  istio  cooled  down  or  had  ceased  to  exist.  Mr.  Klliott 
made  an  affidavit  in  which  he  says: 

it  na  t  ion.  actual  records,  and  t  rust  wort  hy  test  imony 
\  lioiii  I  have  conversed,  and  also  Irom  Knowledge  ol 
<•!  rcnmst  ances  of  seal  life.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
ic.xpeedv  destruction  of  the  1'iibilof  herd  ol'  fur 
e  and  the  lied  increases  in  number  of  vessels  and 
ion'.;h  the  present  modus  vivendi  should  remain  in 
commercial  ruin  of  the  herd;  that  in  order  to  pre- 
serve I  lie  seals  from  eomplet  e  dest  rnct  ion,  as  a  commercial  fact  or,  it  is  nceessary  t  hat 
jM'laiiic  sealing  should  not  only  be  prohibited  in  l',eriii«j  Sea,  but  also  in  flic  North 
J'ai-i  lie  i  ron  i  the  Is;  of  Ma  until  t  he  end  of  October,  annually.  The  pelagic  hunters 
toda\  Kill  at  least  '.HI  p,  r  cent  cows  it  ho  ureal  majority  beini:  \s  it  h  \  onn^.  nearly 
j-eai  l  \  I'm  i  ie:  i  •  <  i  \  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

As  the  phvfsieaj  condiiions  are  smh  that  it  is  uttcrlv  impossible  to  discriminate,  in 
mallei-  of  so\  or  a'_M-  \\hen  shooting  or  xpcarin^  in  ihe  water,  it  is  evident  that 
pelagic  sealing  can  not  be  regulated  in  the  -lightest  decree  beyond  its  complete  pro- 
hibition \v  jt  bin  certain  1  imi  i  s.  '  Klliot  t's  affidavit,  1  >',*_' ;  see  Appendix.  ! 


SKAL    LIF1-:    ON    THE    PHIHlLoF    ISLANDS.  (i 

Of  all  the  testimony  collected  (luring  the  preparation  of  the  United 
States  case  tor  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  I  know  of  nothing  clearer 
or  more  explicit  than  this  of  Mr.  Elliott,  and  to  me  it  seems  pitiful, 
indeed,  that  one  who  has  such  a  grasp  of  the  subject,  and  the  ability  to 
express  it  so  well,  should  have  been  allured  for  a  moment  from  the  plain 
path  of  fact  to  follow  the  ignis  fatuns  of  theory  through  so  many  lanes 
and  byways  to  the  sorrow  of  so  many  of  his  friends  and  admirers. 

Reading  his  different  papers,  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  their 
perusal  makes  one  feel  sorry,  indeed,  that  he  did  not  adopt  Webster's 
views  and  follow  his  advice  when  the  old  veteran  sealer  conversed  with 
him  on  St.  George  Island  that  -Oth  day  of  July,  1890,  of  which  Mr. 
Elliott  writes: 

Daniel  Webster  is  the  veteran  white  sealer  on  these  islands.  lie  came  to  St.  I'aul 
Island  in  1SC58,  and,  save  the  season  oi'  187t>  (then  on  a  trip  to  the  Kussian  seal  islands), 
he  has  been  sealing  here  ever  since,  being'  in  charge  of  the  work  at  Northeast  Point 
annually  until  this  summer  oi'  1S90,  when  he  has  conducted  the  killing  on  St.  George. 

lie  spoke  very  freely  to  me  this  afternoon  while  calling  on  me,  and  said  there  is  no 
use  trying  to  build  these  rookeries  up  again  so  as  to  seal  here,  as  has  been  done  since 
1868,  unless  these  animals  are  protected  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  as  well  as  in 
Bering  Sea ;  on  this  point  the  old  man  was  very  emphatic.  (Elliott's  report  for 
1890,  p.  250.) 

What  wonder  is  it  that  Webster  should  have  been  emphatic  in  his 
remarks  on  pelagic  sealing!  For  more  than  fifty  years  he  has  been  in 
Bering  Sea,  thirty  years  of  which  have  been  spent  among  the  fur  seals 
of  which  he  has  had  the  practical  management,  and  handled  and  killed 
more  of  them  than  any  other  living  man. 

A  plain,  blunt,  rough,  practical  seaman,  honest  and  patriotic  to  the 
core,  he  could  not  be  wheedled  into  new-fangled  notions  or  airy  theories 
which  are  repugnant  to  good,  common  sense,  and  so  he  makes  oath  that: 

My  observation  has  been  that  there  was  an  expansion  of  the  rookeries  from  1870 
to  1879,  which  fact  1  attribute  to  the  careful  management  of  the  islands  by  the 
United  States  Government.  *  *  *  There  was  never,  while  I  have  been  upon  the 
islands,  any  scarcity  of  vigorous  bulls,  there  always  being  a  bufficient  number  to 
fertilize  all  the  cows  coming  to  the  islands. 

The  season  of  1891  showed  that  male  seals  had  certainly  been  in  sufficient  number 
the  year  before,  because  the  pups  on  the  rookeries  were  as  many  as  should  be  for  the 
number  of  cows  landing,  the  ratio  being  the  same  as  in  former  years. 

Then,  too,  there  was  a  surplus  of  vigorous  bulls  in  1891  who  could  obtain  no  cows. 
At  Zapaduie,  on  St.  George,  the  drive  to  the  killing  grounds  is  less  than  a 
mile.  The  seals  are  now  being  killed  there  instead  of  being  driven  across  the  island, 
as  they  were  prior  to  1878,  when  it  took  three  days  to  make  the  journey. 

At  Northeast  Point  rookery,  on  St.  Paul  Island,  the  longest  drive  is  2  miles.  la 
former  times  the  Russians  used  to  drive  from  this  rookery  to  St.  Paul  village,  a  dis- 
tance of  12^  miles.  (See  Webster's  affidavit,  Appendix.) 

Yes,  let  it  not  be  forgotten  for  a  moment  that  from  the  first  taking  of 
fur  seals  for  their  skins  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  to  1808  they  were  driven 
a  distance  of  V2$  miles — or  from  end  to  end  of  St.  Paul  Island — and 
that  no  distinction  of  sex  was  made,  male  and  female  being  driven  and 
slaughtered  indiscriminately,  until  the  almost  total  extinction  of  the 
species  in  1834  compelled  the  Russian- American  Company  to  investigate 
the  cause  of  the  decrease,  which  resulted  in  prohibiting  the  killing  of 
females  forever  after w a  ds. 

It  seems  that  in  spite  of  their  ignorant  and  barbarous  methods  and 
their  possible  lack  of  scientific  acumen,  these  Russians  were  practical 
fellows  after  all,  for  the  sequel  certainly  shows  that  the  plan  adopted 
by  them  of  saving  and  protecting  the  female  was  the  true  one.  Mr. 
Elliott's  own  estimates  show  that  from  1835  to  1881  the  herds  had 
steadily  increased  up  to  5,000,000  seals,  or  up  to  a  point  beyond  which 
it  was  impossible  to  go.  Speaking  of  the  increase  of  seal  life,  he  tells  us : 

I  am  free  to  say  that  it  is  not  within  the  power  of  human  management  to  promote 
this  end  to  the  slightest  appreciable  degree  over  its  present  extent  and  condition  as 


62  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

it  stands  in  the  state  of  nature  heretofore  described.  It  can  not  fail  to  be  evident, 
from  my  detailed  narration  of  the  habits  and  life  of  the  fur  seal  on  these  islands 
during  so  large  a  part  of  every  year,  that  could  man  have  the  same  supervision  and 
control  over  this  animal  during  the  whole  season  which  he  has  at  his  command 
while  they  visit  the  land  he  might  cause  them  to  multiply  and  increase,  as  he  would 
so  many  cattle,  to  an  indefinite  number,  only  limited  by  time  and  the  means  of  feed- 
ing them.  But  the  case  in  question,  unfortunately,  is  one  where  the  fur  seal  is 
taken,  by  demands  for  food,  at  least  six  months  out  of  every  year,  far  beyond  the 
reach  or  even  cognizance  of  any  man,  where  it  is  all  this  time  exposed  to  many 
known  powerful  and  destructive  natural  enemies,  and  probably  many  others,  equally 
so,  unknown,  which  prey  upon  it,  and,  in  accordance  with  that  well-recognized  law 
of  nature,  keeps  this  seal  life  at  a  certain  number— at  a  rigure  which  has  been 
reached  for  ages  past,  and  continue  to  be  in  the  future,  as  far  as  they  now  are — their 
present  maximum  limit  of  increase,  namely,  between  4,000,000  and  5,000,000  seals,  in 
round  numbers.  This  law  holds  good  everywhere  throughout  the  animal  kingdom, 
regulating  and  preserving  the  equilibrium  of  life  in  the  state  of  nature.  Did  it  not 
hold  good  these  seal  islands  and  all  Bering  Sea  would  have  been  literally  covered, 
and  have  swarmed  like  the  medusa?  of  the  waters,  long  before  the  Russians  discov- 
ered them.  But,  according  to  the  silent  testimony  of  the  rookeries,  which  have  been 
abandoned  by  the  seals,  and  the  noisy,  emphatic  assurance  of  those  now  occupied, 
there  were  no  more  seals  when  first  seen  here  by  human  eyes  in  1786  and  1787  than 
there  are  now  in  1881,  as  far  as  all  evidence  goes.  (Elliott's  Seal  Islands  of  Alaska, 
p.  66.) 

What  a  pity  it  is  that  Mr.  Elliott  should  have  forgotten  in  1890  the 
fact  that  the  long  drives  of  from  6  to  12  miles  were  continued  by  the 
Russians  as  long  as  they  were  in  possession  of  the  islands,  and  that 
from  1808  to  1881  the  Americans  killed,  annually,  100,000  young  male 
seals  without  causing  diminution  or  decrease,  and  that  during  the  entire 
forty-seven  years,  from  18/54  to  1881,  the  herd  increased  to  marvelous 
proportions  in  spite  of  the  long  drives  and  the  killing  of  so  many  young 
males,  until,  as  he  himself  says,  "there  were  no  more  seals  when  first 
seen  here  by  human  eyes  in  1786  and  1787  than  there  are  now  in  1881, 
as  far  as  all  evidence  goes." 

DECREASE  OF  SEALS — LACK  OF  MALE  LIFE  NOT  THE  CAUSE. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  notice  some  of  the  testimony  bear- 
ing on  this  very  question  of  an  excess  or  a  dearth  of  bulls  on  the  breed- 
ing grounds,  collected  by  the  United  States  when  preparing  their  case 
for  submission  to  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  where  the  British  coun- 
sel laid  such  stress  upon  Mr.  Elliott's  report  of  1890,  with  his  theory  of 
overdriving,  impotency,  dearth  of  bulls,  innumerable  barren  females, 
and  a  consequent  decrease  of  the  seal  herd  as  a  whole. 

In  their  report  the  British  Bering  Sea  Commissioners  say: 

Upon  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  1891  we  did  not  ourselves  note  any  great  abundance 
of  barren  females,  but  the  facts  in  this  matter  would  be  scarcely  apparent  to  those 
not  intimately  connected  with  the  rookeries  for  more  than  a  single  year.  In  his 
official  report  on  the  condition  of  the  islands  in  1890,  Mr.  Elliott  states  that  therefore 
then  250,000  females  "not  bearing  or  not  served  last  year  and  this,"  but  he  does  not 
explain  in  what  way  this  numerical  estimate  was  arrived  at.  (Report  of  ttritish 
Commissioners,  sec.  433,  p.  77.) 

Not  only  did  they  not  note  "  any  great  abundance  of  barren  females," 
but  it  is  an  open  question  whether  they  noted  any,  for  the  fact  is  there 
were  not  any  such  animals  there  to  be  seen,  but  they  gladly  quote  Mr. 
Elliott's  story  of  1890  about  the  250,000  barren  females  which  he  observed 
on  the  islands. 

There  was  not  a  single  day  of  the  breeding  season  of  1891  when  some 
of  the  four  Treasury  agents  were  not  out  on  the  rookeries  making  care- 
ful examination  of  the  condition  of  seal  life  thereon,  and,  although  I 
was  one  of  the  four,  I  have  yet  to  hear  the  first  word  from  any  of  them, 
or  from  any  one  else  who  has  ever  been  on  a  rookery  (excepting  Mr. 
Elliott),  about  barren  females. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


63 


It  has  been  amply  demonstrated  by  different  individuals,  and  in  many 
ways,  that  then-  was  not  a  shadow  of  truth  in  Mr.  Elliott's  theory,  and 
many  of  his  own  most  intimate  friends  and  fellow  workers,  who  are  well 
qualified  to  speak  as  scientists  on  the  seal  question,  are  among  the  fore- 
most of  those  who  flatly  contradict  him  on  that  point. 

Prof.  B.  W.  Fvermann,  of  the  United  States  Fish  Commission,  visited 
St.  Paul  Island  while  I  was  there  in  1892,  and  he  very  carefully  inspected 
the  seals  on  many  of  the  rookeries,  beginning  July  IS  and  ending  on 
the  .'list,  and  here  is  what  he  found: 


L i  K  A x  x ON  K oo K  K u Y,  Jul n  1ft,  from  1.30  to  4  p.  in . 


HiirtMiis. 


4. . 
5.. 


nulls. 
] 

Cow*. 

Pups. 
°6 

Harems.                   Bulls.     Cowf 

9                                                           1 

i.      I'up.s. 
.">                 3 

<; 

Hi! 

10                                1               1 

"                20 

4 

"(1 

11  ] 

4                 5 

•  > 

5 

1°                                                              1 

5  '            15 

27 

12 

i:;                             1 

6            :iO 

10 
2 

15 

o 

Total                                         13              9 

0             211 

U 

0 

KKKF  ROOKKBY,  July  ZO,  p.  m. 

Many  quite  large  bulls  were  seen  among  the  bachelors,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  but  that  the  number  of  available  bulls  is  considerably  iu  excess  of 
the  number  necessary  to  serve  the  cows. 

NOUTHKAST  POINT  ROOKERY,  July  22. 

Several  hours  in  the  middle  of  the  day  were  spent  in  examining  this  rook- 
ery. *  *  * 

.Just  west  of  this  is  a  bunch  of  about  10  good-sized  bulls  that  had  no  cows  about 
them  at  all.  These  were  not  old,  superannuated  bulls,  but  young,  vigorous  ones,  and 
undoubtedly  well  able  to  maintain  harems  were  there  a  greater  number  of  cows. 
This  and  numerous  other  similar  sights  convince  me  that  there  are  even  now  a  good 
many  more  bulls  than  are  necessary  to  serve  the  cows.  (Notes  on  the  tur  seal,  by  13. 
W.  Everrnaun,  Counter  Case,  United  States,  p.  264.) 

And  C.  H.  Townsend,  of  the  United  States  Fish  Commission,  who 
has  had  many  years  practical  experience  among  fur  seals,  afloat  and 
ashore,  and  who  was  on  duty  in  Bering  Sea  during  the  summer  of  1892, 
makes  affidavit  as  follows: 

As  already  stated  above,  I  was  attached  to  the  steamer  Corw'm  during  the  past 
summer,  and  I  made  all  the  examinations  of  the  stomachs  of  the  seals  referred  to  in 
Captain  Hooper's  report,  covering  in  all  33  seals.  *  1  hese  seals  were  taken  on 

the  2d  day  of  August,  18il2,  at  a  distance  of  about  175  miles  from  the  islands.  *  *  * 

From  the  fact  that  among  the  females  thus  taken  and  examined  there  were  found 
mostly  nursing  cows,  with  a  small  number  of  virgin  cows,  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude 
that  there  are  practically  no  barren  females  swimming  about  in  the  sea  unattached 
to  the  islands,  or  that  at  any  rate,  if  such  seals  exist,  they  are  rarely,  if  ever,  taken. 
In  all  my  experience  I  never  saw  anything  to  lead  me  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is 
such  a  tiling  as  a  barren  female.  In  the  case  of  the  virgin  cows,  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  uterus  proved  them  to  be  too  immature  for  conception.  (C.  H.  Town- 
send;  see  affidavit  in  Appendix.) 

The  testimony  of  Professor  Evermann  and  Mr.  Townsend  is  a  fair 
sample  of  that  given  by  naturalists  generally,  and  it  is  doubly  valuable  in 
this  instance,  because  it  comes  from  personal  friends  of  Mr.  Elliott,  and 
from  friends  who  rather  inclined  to  his  theory  until  they  had  opportunity 
to  investigate  for  themselves,  and  to  demonstrate  to  their  own  and  the 
world's  satisfaction  that  there  never  was  an  impotent  bull  or  a  barren 
cow  seen  on  the  breeding  grounds  or  rookeries  of  the  Pribilof  Islands 
or  in  the  waters  adjacent  thereto. 

Additional  testimony  of  those  who  have  had  experience  with  the  fur 
seals,  and  whose  practical  knowledge  of  the  whole  subject  of  seal  life, 
its  growth,  expansion,  and  decay,  and  the  causes  thereof,  entitles  them 


64  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

to  a  hearing  on  the  point  at  issue,  is  most  respectfully  submitted  to  the 
earnest  consideration  of  all  who  are  interested  in  the  perpetuation  of 
the  Alaskan  fur  seal. 

Mr.  Joseph  Stanley-Brown,  whoalso  was  on  the  seal  islands  in  1891-92, 
testifies  as  follows: 

No  intelligent  observer  would,  be  so  bold  as  to  assert  that  during  the  season  of 
1892  there  was  not  an  abundance  of  males  of  competent  virility,  despite  the  occur- 
rence of  occasional  large  harems.  The  accompanying  photographs1  show  that  even 
at  the  height  of  the  season,  and  just  previous  to  the  disintegration  of  the  breeding 
grounds,  there  were,  misapplied  with  cows,  old  males  which  had  taken  their  stand, 
and  from  which  1  was  unable  to  drive  them  with  stones. 

I  should  have  been  extremely  glad  to  have  been  able  to  note  a  great  many  more 
large  harems,  but  the  work  of  the  pelagic  hunter  among  the  females  has  been  so 
effective,  that  the  average  size  of  the  harems  is  growing  smaller  and  smaller,  while 
the  number  of  idle  bulls  is  steadily  increasing. 

The  abundance  of  male  life  for  service  upon  the  rookeries  was  evidenced  by  the 
number  of  young  bulls  which  continually  sought  lodgment  upon  the  breeding 
grounds. 

It  is  highly  improbable  that  the  rookeries  have  ever  sustained  any  injury  from 
insufficient  service  on  the  part  of  the  males,  for  any  male  that  did  not  possess  suf- 
ficient vitality  for  sustained  potency  would  inevitably  be  deprived  of  hi*  harem  by 
either  his  neighbor  or  some  lusty  young  aspirant,  and  this  dispossession  would  be 
rendered  the  more  certain  by  the  disloyalty  of  his  consorts. 

The  seal  being  polygamous  in  habit,  each  male  being  able  to  provide  for  a  harem 
averaging  twenty  or  thirty  members,  and  the  proportion  of  male  to  female  born 
being  equal,  there  must  inevitably  be  left  a  reserve  of  young  immature  males,  the 
death  of  a  certain  proportion  of  which  could  not  in  anyway  affect  the  annual  supply 
coming  from  the  breeding  grounds.  These  conditions  existing,  the  Government  has 
permitted  the  taking,  with  three  exceptions  up  to  1890,  of  a  quota  of  about  100,000 
of  these  young  male  seals  annually.  When  the  abundance  of  seal  life,  as  evidenced 
by  the  areas  formerly  occupied  by  seals,  is  considered,  I  do  not  believe  that  this  could 
account  for  or  play  any  appreciable  part  in  the  diminution  of  the  herd.  *  *  * 

From  my  knowledge  of  the  vitality  of  seals,  I  do  not  believe  any  injury  ever 
occurred  to  the  reproductive  powers  of  the  male  seals  from  redriving  that  would 
retard  the  increase  of  the  herd,  and  that  the  driving  of  1890  necessary  to  secure 
about  22,000  skins  could  not  have  caused  nor  played  any  important  part  in  the 
decrease  that  was  apparent  on  every  hand  last  year. 

Karp  Buterin,  native  chief  of  St.  Paul  Island  (see  Appendix): 

Plenty  of  bulls  all  the  time  on  the  rookeries,  and  plenty  bulls  have  no  cows.  I 
never  seen  a  3-year-old  cow  without  a  pup  in  July;  only  2-year-olds  have  no  pups. 

H.  N".  Clark,  local  agent  for  lessees : 

I  never  noticed  any  disproportion  of  the  sexes  that  would  lead  me  to  suspect  that 
the  bull  seals  were  too  few,  nor  more  than  an  occasional  barren  cow.  These  latter 
were  so  few  as  to  excite  no  remark,  but  if  any  such  disproportion  did  in  fact  exist 
in  1888  and  in  1889,  it  was  the  fault  of  those  who  killed  them  at  sea,  because  it  never 
occurred  at  all  until  the  marine  hunters  became  numerous  and  aggressive.  I  mention 
this  matter  here,  because  since  I  left  the  island  1  have  heard  it  asserted  that  the  mis- 
management there  caused  the  decrease  of  seal  life.  The  management  there  was  just 
such  as  I  would  follow  if  all  the  seals  belonged  to  me. 

C.  L.  Fowler,  local  agent  for  lessees: 

I  never  saw  any  impotent  bulls  on  the  rookeries,  and  do  not  believe  there  ever  was 
any, unless  it  was  the  result  of  age;  nor  do  I  believe  that  young  male  seals  were  ever 
rendered  impotent  by  driving.  There  has  always  been  a  plenty  of  bulls  on  the  rook- 
eries for  breeding  purposes  ever  since  I  have  been  on  the  islands. 

John  Fratis,  native  sealer,  St.  Paul  Island : 

I  never  knew  of  a  time  when  there  were  not  plenty  of  bulls  for  all  the  cows,  and 
I  never  saw  a  cow  seal,  except  a  2-year  old,  without  a  pup  by  her  side  in  the  proper 
season.  I  never  heard  tell  of  an  impotent  bull  seal,  nor  do  I  believe  :here  is  such  a 
thing,  excepting  the  very  old  and  feeble  or  badly  wounded  ones.  I  have  seen  hun- 
dreds of  idle  vigorous  bulls  upon  the  rookeries,  and  there  were  no  cows  for  them.  I 
saw  many  such  bulls  last  year. 

1  Not  given  here. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  65 

H.  N.  Glidden,  Treasury  agent: 

During  these  years  there  was  always  a  sufficiency  of  vigorous  male  life  to  serve  all 
the  female  seals'  which  came  to  the  islands,  and  certainly  during  this  period  seal  life 
was  not  affected  by  any  deficiency  of  males. 

Alex.  Hansson: 

The  orders  of  the  boss  of  the  gang  in  which  I  worked  in  1888  and  1889,  under  the 
management  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  were  not  to  kill  the  5-year-old 
bulls,  because  they  were,  he  said,  needed  on  the  rookeries. 

Aggei  Kushen,  native  sealer,  St.  Paul  Island: 

We  noticed  idle,  vigorous  bulls  on  the  breeding  rookeries,  because  of  the  scarcity 
of  cows,  and  I  have  noticed  that  the  cows  have  decreased  steadily  every  year  since 
1886,  but  more  particularly  so  in  1888,  1889,  1890,  and  1891. 

H.  H.  Mclutyre,  general  superintendent  Alaska  Commercial  Com- 
pany : 

And  I  am  satisfied  a  sufficient  number  of  males  was  always  reserved  for  future 
breeding  purposes. 

That  during  the  twenty  years  I  was  upon  said  Pribilof  Islands  as  general  agent  of 
said  Alaska  Commercial  Company  there  were  reserved  upon  the  breeding  rookeries 
upon  said  islands  sufficient  vigorous  bulls  to  serve  the  number  of  females  upon  said 
rookeries;  that  while  I  was  located  upon  said  islands  there  was  at  all  times  a  greater 
number  of  adult  male  seals  than  was  necessary  to  fertilize  the  females  who  hauled 
upon  said  rookeries,  and  that  there  was  no  time  when  there  were  not  vigorous  bulls 
on  the  rookeries  who  were  unable  to  obtain  female  consorts. 

So  well  was  this  necessity  for  reserving  sufficient  mature  male  life  recognized  that 
when  in  1887,  1888,  and  1889  the  depleted  rookeries  (depleted  from  causes  that  will 
be  explained  further  on)  would  not  furnish  the  quota  of  100,000  large  skins,  2  and 
3  year-old  male  seals  were  taken  to  make  up  the  quota  in  preference  to  trenching 
upon  this  reserve  of  maturer  male  life. 

The  policy  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  during  the  whole  period  of  its 
lease  was,  as  might  be  naturally  expected,  to  obtain  the  best  possible  skins  for 
market  and  at  the  same  time  preserve  the  rookeries  against  injury,  for  it  was  not 
only  in  their  interests  to  be  able  to  secure  every  year,  until  the  expiration  of  the 
lease,  the  full  quota  allowed  by  law,  but  they  confidently  expected,  by  reason  of 
their  good  management  of  the  business  and  faithful  fulfillment  of  every  obligation 
to  the  Government,  to  obtain  the  franchise  for  a  second  term.  I  was,  therefore, 
always  alert  to  see  that  the  due  proportion  of  breeding  males  of  serviceable  age 
was  allowed  to  return  to  the  rookeries.  This  was  a  comparatively  easy  task  prior 
to  1882,  but  became  from  year  to  year  more  difficult  as  the  seals  decreased.  No  very 
explicit  orders  were  given  to  the  bosses  upon  this  point  until  1888,  because  the  bulls 
seemed  to  be  plentiful  enough,  and  because  it  was  easier  to  kill  and  skin  a  small  seal 
than  a  large  one,  and  the  natives  were  inclined,  for  this  reason,  to  allow  the  large 
ones  to  escape ;  but  in  1888  and  1889  there  was  such  a  marked  scarcity  of  breeding 
males  upon  the  rookeries  that  I  gave  strict  orders  to  spare  all  5-year-old  bulls  and 
confine  the  killing  to  smaller  animals. 

Anton  Melovedoff,  native  chief  of  St.  Paul  Island: 

I  have  never  known  or  heard  tell  of  a  time  when  there  were  not  bulls  enough  and 
to  spare  on  the  breeding  rookeries.  I  never  saw  a  cow  3  years  old  or  over  in  August 
without  a  pup  by  her  side.  The  only  cows  on  a  breeding  rookery  without  pups  are 
the  virgin  cows  who  have  come  there  for  the  first  time.  I  never  went  onto  a  rook- 
ery in  the  breeding  season  when  I  could  not  have  counted  plenty  of  the  idle,  vigor- 
ous bulls  who  had  no  cows. 

Talk  of  epidemics  among  seals  and  of  impotent  bulls  on  the  rookeries,  but  those 
who  have  spent  a  lifetime  on  the  seal  islands  and  whose  business  and  duty  it  has 
been  to  guard  and  observe  them  have  no  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  either.  An 
impotent  bull  dare  not  attempt  to  go  on  a  rookery  even  had  he  a  desire  to  do  so. 
Excepting  the  extremely  old  and  feeble,  I  have  never  seen  a  bull  that  was  impotent. 

Simeon  Melovidov,  native  school  teacher,  St.  Paul  Island : 

Nor  is  there  any  shadow  of  fact  for  the  idle  statement  made  from  time  to  time 
about  a  dearth  of  bulls  on  the  rookeries  or  of  impotent  bulls. 

I  have  talked  to  the  old  men  of  our  people,  men  who  can  remember  back  over  fifty 
years,  and  not  one  of  them  knows  of  a  time  when  there  was  not  plenty  of  bulls,  and 
more  than  enough  on  the  breeding  rookeries,  and  no  one  here  ever  heard  of  an  impo- 
tent bull.  It  has  been  said  that  cows  are  barren  sometimes  because  of  the 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 5 


66  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

dearth  of  bulls,  but  such  is  not  the  case  at  all,  for  the  only  cows  on  the  breeding 
rookeries  in  July  or  August  without  pups  are  the  2-year-olds  (virgins),  which  have 
come  on  the  rookeries  for  the  first  time. 

T.  F.  Morgan,  foreman  on  Pribilof  Islands  for  Alaska  Commercial 
Company  : 

Despite  the  lowering  on  the  standard  weight  of  skins,  care  was  taken  annually  on 
St.  George  that  the  residue  of  available  male  breeders  was  sufficient  for  the  needs 
of  the  rookeries,  and  instructions  to  that  effect  were  given  to  the  assistants  by  the 
superintendent  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company.  In  this  we  were  aided  by  the 
inaccessible  character  of  some  of  the  hauling  grounds. 

I.  H.  Moultou,  Treasury  agent: 

During  these  years  there  were  always  a  sufficiency  of  male  seals  for  breeding  pur- 
poses, and  in  every  year  I  saw  great  numbers  of  idle,  vigorous  bulls  about  and  back 
of  the  breeding  grounds  which  were  unable  to  obtain  females. 

S.  E.  ^ettleton,  Treasury  agent: 

During  my  stay  on  the  islands  I  have  never  seen  a  time  during  the  breeding  season 
when  there  has  not  been  a  number  of  large,  vigorous  young  bulls  hanging  about  the 
borders  of  the  rookeries  watching  for  an  opportunity  to  get  a  position  of  their  own. 

L.  A.  Noyes,  M.  D.  (see  affidavit  in  Appendix) : 

The  ''dearth  of  bulls  theory"  has  been  thoroughly  and  impartially  investigated 
without  discovering  a  cow  of  3  years  old  or  over  on  the  rookeries  without  a  pup  by 
her  side  at  the  proper  time,  and  I  am  convinced  that  the  virgin  females  coming  onto 
the  rookeries  for  the  first  time  are  the  only  ones  to  be  found  there  without  pups. 

The  investigation  established  the  additional  fact  that  hundreds  of  vigorous  bulls 
were  lying  idle  on  the  rookeries  without  cows,  and  many  others  had  to  content  them- 
selves with  only  one  or  two. 

The  theory  of  "  iinpotency  of  the  bull  through  overdriving"  while  young  was  also 
found  to  be  untrue,  and  it  was  shown  that  after  1878  all  long  drives  on  both  islands 
had  been  abolished,  and  instead  of  driving  seals  from  6  to  12  miles,  as  was  done  in 
Russian  times,  none  were  driven  to  exceed  2£  miles. 

It  is  also  a  well-known  fact  that  none  but  the  physically  strong  and  aggressive 
bulls  can  hold  a  position  on  the  rookeries,  and  that  a  weak  or  an  impotent  animal 
has  no  desire  to  go  there. 

J.  C.  Redpath,  lessee's  agent  at  the  seal  islands  (see  affidavit  in  Ap- 
pendix) : 

A  dearth  of  bulls  on  the  breeding  rookeries  was  a  pet  theory  of  one  or  two  tran- 
sient visitors,  but  it  only  needed  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  condition  of  the 
rookeries  to  convince  the  most  skeptical  that  there  were  plenty  of  bulls,  and  to  spare, 
and  that  hardly  a  cow  could  be  found  on  the  rookeries  without  a  pup  at  her  side. 

For  five  years  I  have  given  this  particular  subject  my  most  earnest  attention,  and 
every  succeeding  year's  experience  has  convinced  me  that  there  is  not  and  never  was 
a  dearth  of  bulls.  The  theory  of  impotency  of  the  y  oungbulls  because  of  overdriving 
when  young  is  not  worthy  of  consideration  by  any  sane  or  honest  m  an  who  has  ever  seen 
a  bull  seal  on  a  breeding  rookery;  and  as  I  have  already  answered  the  question  of 
overdriving,  I  will  only  add  here  that  no  young  bull  ever  goes  upon  the  breeding 
rookery  until  he  is  able  to  fight  his  way  in,  and  an  impotent  bull  has  no  desire  to 
fight,  nor  could  he  win  a  position  on  the  rookery  were  he  to  attempt  it.  The  man 
is  not  alive  who  over  saw  a  6  or  7  year  old  seal  impotent. 

B.  F.  Scribner,  Treasury  agent: 

There  was  always  in  both  seasons  a  great  sufficiency  of  adult  males  to  serve  all  the 
females  coming  to  the  island,  and  I  noticed  each  year  a  great  number  of  idle,  vigorous 
bulls  behind  the  breeding  grounds  who  could  not  obtain  consorts,  and  one  of  these 
extra  bulls  always  took  the  place  of  an  old  male  unable  longer  to  be  of  use  for 
breeding  purposes. 

Daniel  Webster,  lessees'  agent  at  the  seal  islands  (see  affidavit  in 
Appendix) : 

There  was  never  while  I  have  been  on  the  islands  any  scarcity  of  vigorous  bulls, 
there  always  being  a  sufficient  number  to  fertilize  all  the  cows  coming  to  the  islands. 
It  was  always  borne  in  mind  by  those  on  the  islands  that  a  sufficient  number  of  males 
must  be  preserved  for  breeding  purposes,  and  this  accounts  partly  for  the  lowering 
of  the  standard  weight  of  skins  in  1888.  The  season  of  1891  showed  that  male  seals 
had  certainly  been  in  sufficient  number  the  year  before,  because  the  pups  on  the 
rookeries  were  as  many  as  should  be  for  the  number  of  cows  landing,  the  ratio 
being  the  same  as  in  former  years.  Then,  too,  there  was  a  surplus  of  vigorous  bulls 
in  1891  who  could  obtain  no  cows. 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  67 

W.  H.  Williams,  Treasury  agent: 

During  the  season  of  1891  nearly  every  mature  female  coming  upon  the  rookeries 
gave  birth  to  a  young  seal,  and  there  was  great,  abundance  of  males  of  sufficient  age 
to  again  go  upon  the  breeding  grounds  that  year,  as  was  shown  by  the  inability  of 
large  numbers  of  them  to  secure  more  than  one  to  live  cows  each,  while  quite  a  num- 
ber could  secure  none  at.  all.  My  investigation  confirms  what  has  been  so  often  said 
1»\  others  who  have  reported  upon  this  subject,  and  that  is  that  the  Pribilof  Islands 
are  the  great  breeding  grounds  of  the  fur  seals,  and  that  they  can  be  reared  in  great 
numbers  on  said  islands,  and  at  the  same  time,  under  wise  and  judicious  restrictions, 
a  certain  number  of  male  seals  can  be  killed  Irom  year  to  year  without  injury  to  the 
breeding  herds,  and  their  skins  disposed  of  for  commercial  purposes,  thereby  building 
up  and  perpetuating  this  great  industry  indefinitely,  and  thus  adding  to  the  wealth, 
happiness,  and  comfort  of  the  ei\  ili/ed  world,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  pelagic 
hunting  of  this  animal  is  to  continue,  and  the  barbarous  practice  of  killing  the 
mother  seal  with  her  unborn  young,  or  when  she  is  rearing  it,  is  to  go  on,  it  will  be 
but  a  very  short  time  before  the  fur  seal  will  practically  become  extinct  and  this  val- 
uable industry  will  pass  out  of  existence. 

There  is  the  testimony  of  twenty  men  who  have  been  on  the  seal  islands 
for  years,  some  of  them  being  born  and  raised  there,  and  several  of  them 
having  had  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  years  experience,  while  every  one 
of  them  have  been  directly  interested  in  the  business  either  for  the 
Government  or  for  the  lessees,  and  two  of  them,  at  least,  are  natural- 
ists of  repute,  who  could  not  be  induced  under  any  circumstances  to 
vary  from  the  truth  and  facts  as  they  tound  them. 

I  have  made  the  quotations  from  the  "Case  of  the  United  States,"  as 
it  was  prepared  for  the  United  States  counsel  before  the  Tribunal  of 
Arbitration,  and  I  could  quote  many  others  to  the  same  purpose  were 
it  necessary. 

Being  personally  acquainted  with  most  of  the  gentlemen  named,  and 
knowing  the  truth  of  their  several  statements,  I  deem  it  quite  unneces- 
sary to  add  another  name  from  the  scores  at  hand. 

DEAD  PUPS. 

Assuming  then  that  the  "dearth  of  bulls"  theory  has  been  disproved 
and  disposed  of,  we  will  now  take  up  the  subject  of  dead  pups  on  the 
islands,  and  show  that  until  the  work  of  the  pelagic  sealer  in  Bering 
Sea  became  an  industry  of  some  importance,  dead  pups  by  the  thousands, 
or  by  the  acre,  were  unheard  of  and  unknown ;  but  as  the  pelagic  sealing 
industry  nourished  and  grew,  and  the  fleet  of  schooners  multiplied  and 
doubled  in  numbers  from  year  to  year,  the  number  of  dead  pups  was 
found  to  increase  011  the  rookeries  in  the  same  proportion. 

That  this  proposition  has  been,  and  may  still  be,  denied  by  the  inter- 
ested ones;  that  men  may  be  found  who  will  swear  to  the  contrary  is 
already  conceded  by  me,  for  I  have  met  them  who  did  it;  but,  in  every 
instance,  they  were  men  whose  whole  interest,  capital,  and  labor  were 
engaged  in  the  business  of  seal  hunting,  and  who  would  follow  a  seal 
wherever  it  went,  on  land  or  water,  unless  the  strong  hand  of  a  power 
superior  to  their  own  intervened  to  prevent  them. 

Another  class,  in  which  are  to  be  found  men  of  the  highest  intelligence 
and  personal  honor,  argue  that  possibly  a  stampede  or  an  epidemic,  or 
something  else  of  which  we  may  not  be  aware,  is  at  the  bottom  of  the 
trouble. 

Of  the  latter  class  are  the  British  Bering  Sea  Commissioners,  and  I 
quote  them  in  full : 

(L)— MORTALITY  OF  YOUNG  SEALS  IN  1891. 

344.  In  the  season  of  1891  considerable  numbers  of  dead  pups  were  found  in  certain 
places  upon  the  rookery  grounds  or  in  their  vicinity  and  various  hypotheses  were 
advanced  to  account  for  this  unusual  mortality.  As  some  of  these  have  special 
bearings  on  the  general  question  of  seal  preservation,  it  may  be  well  to  devote  a  few 
words  to  this  particular  subject. 


6-S  SKALLIFK    ON     THK     PKIH1LOF     ISLANDS. 

!!!.">.  In  order  to  exhibit  tin-  circumstances  surrounding  this  fact  ami  to  arrive  at  a 
probable  explanation  ol'  its  true  nieaninu,  it  \vill  lie  necessary  in  tin-  tirst  instance 
ti>  give  in  snnmiari/ed  form  the  observations  and  n«»t«->  bearing  upon  it  made  on  the 

ground    by   ollfsel  \  t's. 

:;iti.  \\lieii  visiting  Tolstoi  rookery,  St.  Paul  Island,  on  the  L'lUh  ol'  July,  we 
observed  and  called  attention  to  several  hundred  dead  pup*  which  lay  scattered 
about  in  a  limited  area  on  a  sinooi  h  slope  near  the  northern  <>r  in'and  end  of  the 
rookery  ground  and  at  .some  little  distance  from  the  shore.  'I  he  bodies  were  partly 
decomposed  and  appeared  to  have  lain  \vhere  loiind  lor  a  week  or  more,  which  would 
place  the  actual  date  of  the  death  of  the  pups.  say.  between  the  K>th  and  L'Oth  of 
July.  Neither  the  (iovernnient  agent  who  was  with  us.  nor  the  natives  forming  our 
boat's  crew  at  the  rime,  would  at  first  believe  that  the  objects  seen  on  the  rookery 
were  dead  pups,  a fti rming  that  they  were  st  ones  :  but  when  it  became  c lea rl  v  apparent 
that  this  was  not  tlie  case  they  could  slimiest  as  causes  of  death  onlv  overrunning 
Ity  bulls  or  surf  alonu  the  shore,  neither  one  of  w  hich  appeared  to  us  at  the  time  to 
lie  satisfactory.  Mi-.  1  >.  \Yehster.  interrogated  on  the  subject  some  days  later  on 
>t  (icniiif  Island,  offered  merely  the  same  suggestions,  but  a  few  davs  still  later, 
both  whites  and  natives  mi  the  islands  were  found  to  have  developed  quite  other 
opinions  and  to  be  ready  to  attribute  the  deaths  to  the  operations  of  pelagic  sealers 
killing  mothers  while  off  at  sea  and  leading  to  the  death  of  pups  from  starvation 
consequent  on  such  kilJinn'. 

,'!  17.  Pel  iev  iug  the  mat  ter  to  be  one  of  considerable  importance,  however,  it  mi^lit 
l>e  e\]ilained.  particular  attention  was  paid  to  it  on  subsequent  visits  to  rookeries. 
<  >n  the  Illst  of  .1  uly  and  the  1st  of  August  the  rookeries  of  M .  ( ieor^e  were  inspected, 
but  no  similar  appearances  were  found,  nor  was  anything  of  the. same  kind  again 
seen  till  the  1th  of  August,  on  I'olavina  rookery,  St.  Paul  Island,  where,  near  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  rookery,  several  hundred  dead  pups  wen-  again  found  by 
us,  here  also  covering  an  area  of  limited  si/.e,  which  we  were  able  to  examine  care- 
fully without  disturbing  t  he  breeding  seals.  It  was  estimated  that  the  pups  here 
found  had  died  bet  ween  ten  days  and  t  wo  weeks  before,  vv  hich  would  place  the  actual 
date  of  death  at  about  the  same  time  with  that  of  those  first  referred  to. 

3-1*.  <  Mi  the  following  day  the  extensive  rookeries  of  Northeast  Point  were  visited 
and  examined,  but  very  few  dead  pups  were  anv  where  seen.  Mr.  Fowler,  in  charge 
of  these  rookeries  for  the  company,  was  specially  questioned  on  this  point,  and  fully 
confirmed  the  negative  observations  made  by  ourselves  at  the  time.  It  may  here 
be  mentioned  that  the  vicinity  of  Northeast  Point  had  been  the  principal  and  only 
notable  locality  from  whi«  h,  up  to  this  date,  sealing  vessels  had  been  sighted  in  the 
ofling  or  had  been  reported  as  shooting  seals  within  hearing  of  the  shore. 

:>!!».  <  Mi  the  ll'th  of  August,  after  a  cruise  to  the  northward  of  about  a  fortnight's 
duration,  we  returned  to  St.  Paul  and  on  the  same  day  revisited  Tolstoi  rookery. 
On  this  occasion  the  dead  pups  previously  noted  were  st  ill  to  be  seen,  but  the  bodies 
were  flattened  out  and  more  or  less  covered  with  sand  by  the  continuous  movement 
of  the  living  seals.  There  were,  however,  on  and  near  the  same  place,  and  particu- 
larly near  the  angle  between  Tolstoi  rookery  and  the  sands  of  English  Hay,  many 
more  dead  pups,  larger  in  si/.e  than  those  first  noted  and  scarcely  distinguishable  in 
this  respect  from  the  living  pups,  "which  were  then  ''podded  out"  in  great  numbers 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  Messrs.  Fowler  and  Murray,  who  accompanied  us 
on  this  occasion,  admitted  the  mortality  to  be  local,  and  the  first-named  gentleman 
stated  that  in  his  long  experience  he  had  never  seen  anv  thing  of  the  kind  before,  and 
suggested  that  the  mothers  from  this  special  locality  mi.uht  have  gone  to  some  par- 
ticular "feeding  bank"  and  have  there  been  killed  together  by  sea  sealers.  On  the 
same  day  we  visited  the  Keel'  rookery  auain.  and  a  search  was  made  there  for  dead 
pups,  which  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  some  of  approximately  the  same  si/e  with 
those  last  mentioned,  but  probably  not  more  than  an  eighth,  and  certainly  not  more 
than  one-fourth  in  number  as  compared  with  the  inner  end  of  the  Tolstoi  rookery 
ground,  and  proportionately  in  both  cases  to  the  number  of  living  pups. 

.';.">().  While  making  a  third  inspection  of  the  St.  Paul  rookeries  in  September,  on 
the  ].">th  of  that  month,  the  Reef  and  Northeast  Point  rookeries  were  again  specially 
examined.  'I  he  rookery  -round  of  the  southeastern  side  of  the  Keef  Point  was 
can-hilly  inspected,  area  by  area,  with  field  glasses,  from  the  various  rocky  points 
wh'p  h  overlook  it,  and  from  which  the  whole  field  is  visible  in  detail  save  certain 
narrow,  stony  slopes  close  to  the  sea  edge,  where  dead  pups  mi^ht  have  been  hidden 
from  view  auion>_r  the  bowlders.  Subsequently,  the  northeastern  sloping  ground, 
named  (  ,;i  i  botch  on  t  he  plans,  being  a!  t  hat  da  t  c  merely  occupied  by  scat  tered  groups 
of  sea  Is.  w'as  wa  1  ked  over.  The  result  of  the  inspect  ion  was  to  show  that  there  were? 
on  the  -out  beast  --ide  a  few  do/en  dead  pups  at  the  most  in  sighi .  while  on  the  oppo- 
site side  perhaps  a  hundred  in  all  were  found  in  the  area  gone  over,  being,  probably, 
the  -a  me  with  i  ho-e  -ecu  here  the  prev  ions  mom  h,  and  in  number  or  contiguity  not 
in  any  way  comparable  with  those  seen  at  the  inner  end  of  Tolstoi. 

I'ifil.  On  the  same  day  a  final  visit  was  made  to  the  Northeast  Point  rookeries,  then 
in  charge,  of  three  natives  only.  Two  of  these  men  went  over  the  ground  with  us 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLAJs7DS.  69 

and  were  questioned  on  various  subjects,  including  that  of  dead  pups,  through  our 
Aleut  interpreter.  They  would  not  admit  that  they  had  seen  any  grout  number  of 
dead  pups  on  the  northeast  part  this  season,  and  did  not  seem  to  be  in  any  way 
impressed  \\itli  tin-  id«-a  thai  then-  had  been  any  unusual  mortality  there.  The 
ground  to  the  north  of  llutchinsou  Hill  was,  however,  carefully  examined  by  us 
from  the  slopes  of  the  hill,  and  a  few  dead  pups  were  made  out  there.  Again,  at  a 
place  to  the  north  of  Sea  Lion  Neck  of  the  plans,  and  beyond  the  sand  beach  upon 
which  holluschiokie  generally  haul  out,  a  slow  advance  was  made  among  a  large 
herd  of  females  and  pups,  though  part  of  these  were  necessarily  driven  off  the 
ground  in  so  doing.  An  occupied  area  of  rookery  was  thus  walked  over,  and  the 
dead  pups  which  appeared  at  this  spot  to  be  unusually  abundant  were  counted  with 
approximate  accuracy.  A  very  lew  were  found  scattered  over  the  general  surface, 
but  on  approaching  the  shore  edge  an  area  of  about  20,000  square  feet  was  noted,  in 
which  about  KM)  dead  pups  were  assembled.  Some  of  these  lay  within  reach  of  the 
surf  at  high  tide.  Most  appeared  to  have  been  dead  for  at  least  ten  days,  and  sev- 
eral were  broken  up  and  mangled  by  the  movement  of  the  living  seals  on  and  about 
them.  This  particular  locality  showed  a  greater  number  of  dead  pups  to  area  than 
any  other  seen  at  this  time  either  on  the  Northeast  or  Reef  rookeries,  but  in  number 
in  no  respect  comparable  to  that  previously  noted  at  Tolstoi,  or  even  to  that  on  the 
south  part  of  Polavina. 

352.  We  were  informed  on  this  our  last  visit  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  that  subse- 
quent to  our  discovery  of  and  comments  upon  the  dead  pups  at  the  two  last-mentioned 
places,  the  attention  of  Mr.  ,J.  Stanley  Brown  (who  was  engaged  during  the  summer 
in  making  a  special  examination  of  the  rookeries  for  the  United  States  Government) 
was  called  to  the  circumstance,  and  that  he  undertook  some  further  examination  of 
it,  of  which  the  result  will  no  doubt  eventually  be  rendered  available.     Dr.  Acland, 
who  had  .just  been  installed  as  medical  officer  on  St.  Paul,  also  told  us  that  he  had, 
within  a  few  days,  examined  the  bodies  of  six  of  the  pups  from  Tolstoi,  and  that 
though  rather  too  much  decomposed  for  correct  autopsy,  he  had  been  unable  to  find 
any  signs  of  disease,  but  that  all  these  examined  were  very  thin  and  without  food  in 
the  stomachs. 

353.  It  may  be  noted  here  that  the  carcasses  thus  examined  must  have  been  those 
of  pups  which  had  died  in  the  mouth  of  September,  or  when  no  sealing  schooners 
remained  in  Bering  Sea. 

354.  The  body  of  a  pup  found  by  us  on  the  Northeast  rookery  on  the  5th  of  August, 
-which  was  still  undecomposed,  was  preserved  in  alcohol,  and  has  since  been  sub- 
mitted to  Dr.  A.  Gunther,  F.  R.  S.,  of  the   British  Museum,  who  kindly  ottered  to 
make  an  examination  of  it.     This  is  quoted  at  length  in  Appendix  (D).     The  stom- 
ach was  found  to  contain  no  food.     The  body  was  well  nourished,  with  a  fair  amount 
of  fat  in  the  subcutaneous  tissue,  but  no  fat  about  the  abdominal  organs.      The 
lungs  and  windpipe  were  found  in  an  inflammatory  condition.    Respecting  the  actual 
cause  of  death,  Dr.  Gunther  says:  "Both  the  absence  of  food  as  well  as  the  condi- 
tion of  the  respiratory  organs  are  sufficient  to  account  for  the  death  of  the  animal; 
but  which  of  the  two  was  the  primary  cause,  preceding  the  other,  it  is  impossible 
to  say." 

355.  It  would  be  inappropriate  here  to  enter  into  any  lengthened  discussion  of  the 
bearings  of  the  above  facts  on  the  methods  of  sealing  at  sea;  but  as,  after  the  ten- 
tative adoption  of  various  hypotheses,  the  mortality  of  the  young  seals  was  with  a 
remarkable  unanimity  attributed  to  pelagic  sealing  by  the  gentlemen  in  any  way 
connected  with  the  breeding  islands,  and  as  it  has  since  been  widely  and  consistently 
advertised  in  the  press  as  a  further  and  striking  proof  of  the  destrnctiveness  of  pela- 
gic sealing,   it  may  be  permissible  to  allude  to  a  few  cogent  reasons,  because  of 
which  the  subject  seems  at  least  to  require  consideration  of  a  much  more  careful  and 
searching  kind : 

(1)  The  death  of  so  many  young  seals  on  the  islands  in  1891  was  wholly  excep- 
tional  and   unprecedented,  and   it  occurred  in   the  very  season  during  which,  in 
accordance  with  the  modus  vivendi,  every  effort  was  being  made  to  drive  all  pelagic 
sealers  from  Bering  Sea.     Those  familiar  with  the  islands  were  evidently  puzzled 
and  surprised  when  their  attention  was  first  drawn  to  it,  and  were  for  some  time  in 
doubt  as  to  what  cause  it  might  be  attributed. 

(2)  The  explanation  at  length  very  unanimously  concurred  in  by  them,  viz,  that 
the  young  had  died  because  their  mothers  had  been  killed  at  sea,  rests  wholly  upon 
the  assumption  that  each  female  will  suckle  only  its  own  young  one,  an  assumption 
which  appears  to  be  at  least  very  doubtful,  and  which  has  already  been  discussed. 

(3)  The  mortality  was  at  first  local,  and  though  later  a  certain  number  of  dead 
pups  were  found  on  various  rookeries  examined,  nothing  of  a  character  comparable 
with  that  on  Tolstoi  rookery  was  discovered. 

(4)  The  mortality  first  observed  on  Tolstoi  and  Polavina  was  at  too  early  a  date 
to  enable  it  to  be  reasonably  explained  by  the  killing  of  mothers  at  sea.     It  occurred, 
as  already  explained,  about  the  15th  or  20th  of  July,  at  a  time  at  which,  according 
to  the  generally  accepted  dates  as  well  as  our  own  observations  in  1891,  the  females 


70  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

had  not  begun  to  leave  the  rookeries  in  large  numbers,  or,  when  leaving  them,  to  do 
no  more  than  swim  or  play  about  close  to  the  shore.  It  has  already  been  stated  that 
Bryant  gives  the  25th  of  July  as  the  opening  of  the  period  in  which  the  females 
begin  to  leave  the  rookeries.  Maynard  states  that  the  bulls,  cows,  and  pups  remain 
within  the  rookery  limits  to  the  same  date,  while  Elliott  places  this  change  in  the 
rookeries  between  the  end  of  July  and  the  5th  and  8th  of  August.  It  is,  moreover, 
acknowledged  by  the  best  authorities  that  the  dates  in  seal  life  upon  the  islands 
have  become  later  rather  than  earlier  in  recent  years,  as  compared  with  those  in 
which  the  dates  above  cited  were  ascertained.  In  the  case  of  the  death  of  pups  after 
the  middle  of  August,  it  might  be  an  admissible  hypothesis  that  the  mothers  had 
been  killed  at  sea  and  that  subsequently  to  such  killing  the  young  had  had  time  to 
starve  to  death,  but  not  at  dates  earlier  than  this.  In  the  present  case  the  mortality 
began  long  before  that  date,  and  it  seems  probable  that  the  deaths  which  occurred 
later  must  be  explained  by  the  same  cause,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  extending 
from  the  original  localities  and  becoming  more  general 

356.  The  causes  to  which  the  mortality  noted  may  be  attributed  with  greatest 
probability  are  the  following,  but  the  evidence  at  present  at  disposal  scarcely  admits 
of  a  final  attribution  to  one  or  other  of  them.  If,  however,  the  examination  made 
by  Dr.  Acland  of  several  of  the  carcasses  be  considered  as  indicative  of  the  state  of 
the  whole,  one  of  the  two  first  is  likely  to  aftord  the  correct  explanation : 

(a)  It  is  well  known  that  in  consequence  of  the  decreased  number  of  killables 
found  on  the  hauling  grounds  in  late  years  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  collect 
these  close  to  and  even  on  the  edges  of  the  breeding  rookeries,  and  that  it  has  thus 
been  impossible  to  avoid  the  collection  and  driving  to  the  killing  grounds,  with  the 
killables,  of  all  sorts  of  seals  not  required,  including  seecatchie  and  females.  It  is 
also  known  that  the  driving  and 'killing  in  the  early  part  of  the  season  of  1891  was 
pushed  with  unwonted  energy,  taking  into  consideration  the  reduced  number  of 
seals,  and  it  appears  to  be  quite  possible  that  the  females  thus  driven  from  their 
young,  though  afterwards  turned  away  from  the  killing  grounds  in  an  exhausted 
and  thoroughly  terrified  state,  never  afterwards  found  their  way  back  to  their  orig- 
inal breeding  places,  but  either  went  off  to  sea  or  landed  elsewhere.  The  places 
where  the  greatest  number  of  dead  pups  were  first  seen  on  Tolstoi  and  Polavina  were 
just  those  from  the  immediate  vicinity  of  which  drives  were  most  frequently  made. 

(6)  The  appearances,  indicating  a  local  beginning  and  greatest  intensity' of  mor- 
tality, with  its  subsequent  extension  to  greater  areas,  might  reasonably  be  explained 
by  the  origination  and  transmission  of  some  disease  of  an  epidemic  character. 

(c)  The  circumstances  where  the  mortality  was  observed  to  be  greatest  appeared 
to  be  such  as  to  be  explicable  by  a  panic  and  stampede,  with  consequent  overrunning 
of  the  young;  but,  if  so,  such  stampedes  must  have  occurred  more  than  once.     They 
might  not  improbably  have  resulted  from  attempts  to  collect  drives  too  near  the 
breeding  rookeries. 

(d)  It  is  entirely  within  the  bounds-  of  probability  that  raiders  may  have  landed 
on  at  least  Tolstoi  and  Polavina  rookeries  without  anyone  upon  the  islands  becoming 
cognizant  of  the  fact.     Females  would  in  such  a  case  be  killed  in  greatest  numbers,  for 
these  occupy  the  stations  most  easily  got  at  from  the  seaside,  and  the  killing  upon 
the  rookery  ground  would  also  unavoidably  have  resulted  in  stampeding  large  num- 
bers of  seals  of  all  classes.     (Report  of  British  Bering  Sea  Commissioners,  pp.  61-64.) 

A  brief  review  of  the  salient  points  of  the  foregoing  will  not  be  out 
of  place  at  the  present  time,  even  though  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration, 
before  which  they  were  considered  and  upon  which  they  exerted  an 
influence  perhaps,  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past. 

In  section  340  they  tell  us : 

We  observed  and  called  attention  to  several  hundred  dead  pups.  *     The 

bodies  were  partly  decomposed  and  appeared  to  have  lain  where  found  for  a  week  or 
more.  Neither  the  Government  agent  who  was  with  us  nor  the  natives 

forming  our  boat's  crew  at  the  time  would  at  first  believe  that  tne  objects  seen  on 
the  rookery  were  dead  pups,  affirming  that  they  were  stones. 

Now,  all  that  seems  plain  enough,  but  does  it  not  sound  rather  ludi- 
crous, to  say  the  least,  when  it  is  alleged  by  any  man  that  a  boat's  crew 
of  native  sealers,  whose  life  work  is  the  handling  of  seals,  could  not  tell 
the  difference  between  the  decomposed  carcass  of  a  pup  seal  and  a  stone, 
when  those  who  had  never  been  to  the  seal  islands  before  saw  the  dif- 
ference at  a  glance!  The  commissioners  continue: 

The  bodies  were  partly  decomposed  and  appeared  to  have  lain  where  found  for  a 
week  or  more. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


71 


To  anyone  not  knowing  the  real  conditions  existing  at  Tolstoi  rookery 
on  that  particular  29th  of  July,  the  words  quoted  would  imply  that  the 
men  who  "found"  the  bodies  of  the  "decomposed  pups"  were  walking 
around  on  the  rookery,  but  the  truth  is  we  did  not  land  on  Tolstoi  rook- 
ery at  all  during  the  29th  of  July,  nor  did  we  find  any  dead  pups  that 
had  been  lying  there  for  a  week  or  more,  nor  did  we  find  any. 

As  I  was  the  Government  agent  who  accompanied  the  commissioners 
and  was  in  charge  of  the  boat's  crew  of  natives,  I  affirm  that  we  sailed 
from  the  village  lauding  to  Zapadnie  or  Southwest  Bay,  where  we 
landed  and  walked  on  the  rookery  without  seeing  any  dead  pups;  and 
afterwards  we  sailed  from  Zapadnie  and  followed  the  trend  of  the  shore 
all  around  English  Hay  and  over  to  Tolstoi,  without  making  a  landing 
till  we  arrived  home  at  the  village.  It  was  while  we  were  passing  Tol- 
stoi someone  asked  the  question,  "  What  is  that  up  there  on  the  side- 
hill?"  Field  glasses  were  used  by  several  of  the  men,  and  some  said 
the  objects  pointed  at  were  dead  seals,  some  said  "dead  pups,"  and  some 
claimed  they  were  not  certain  whether  they  were  bones  or  rocks. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  were  looking  at  a  very  steep  hill, 
broken  and  rocky;  that  we  were  from  200  to  300  yards  out  from  land, 
and  in  a  boat  that  was  on  a  choppy  sea,  and  therefore  in  constant 
motion,  and  it  will  be  readily  understood  why  the  native  sealers  were 
so  dull  about  dead  pups  on  Tolstoi  rookery. 

In  section  349  they  tell  us  that — 

On  the  19th  of  August  *  *  we  returned  to  St.  Paul,  and  on  the  same  day 
revisited  Tolstoi  rookery.  *  Messrs.  Fowler  and  Murray,  who  accompanied 

us  on  this  occasion,  admitted  the  mortality  to  be  local,  and  the  first-named  gentle- 
man stated  that  in  his  long  experience  he  had  never  seen  anything  of  the  kind 
before,  and  suggested  that  the  mothers  from  this  special  locality  might  have  gone  to 
some  particular  "feeding  bank"  and  have  been  killed  together  by  sea  sealers. 

Without  attempting  to  enter  into  an  argument  of  what  we  actually 
saw  and  said  that  day  on  Tolstoi  rookery,  I  will  say  that  it  is  true  we, 
Fowler,  Murray,  and  Barnes,  were  astonished  at  the  number  of  dead 
pups  we  beheld,  a  number  far  exceeding  anything  we  had  ever  seen 
before,  and  it  was  in  that  spirit  of  astonishment  that  Mr.  Fowler  said 
he  never  saw  the  like,  meaning  that  he  never  saw  so  many  at  one  time, 
which  is  very  easily  accounted  for  now  by  the  well-known  fact  that  in 
no  year  previous  to  1891  were  so  many  seals  killed  and  taken  by  pelagic 
sealers,  as  may  be  seen  by  a  reference  to  the  following  table: 

Table  of  pelagic  catch  from  1868  to  1894,  loth  inclusive,  from  the  be*t  authorities  and 
sources  of  information,  revised  and  corrected  to  date. 


Year. 

Number. 

Ye., 

Number.     Year. 

Number. 

Year. 

Number. 

1868... 

4,367 

1875 

5  033   1882 

15  551  '< 

1889 

1 
43  158 

1869  

4,  430 

1876  

5,  515   1883 

16  585 

1890 

51  814 

1870  

8  686 

1877 

5  210   1884 

17  183 

1891 

69  788 

1871  

16.911 

1878  

5  544  '  1885 

24  %0 

189° 

73  394 

1872  

5,336 

1  1879  

8,867  1  1886 

38  994 

1893 

109  000 

1873  

5,229 

,  1880  

8,910  ji  1887 

46  (iL's 

1894 

J42  000 

1874 

5  873 

!  Iggl 

10  382   1888 

26  915 

|  10C1  

II 

The  real  number  taken  in  1891  was  78,000,  but  only  those  actually 
sold  in  London  are  counted  here,  and,  as  there  is  no  doubt  that  from  80 
to  90  per  cent  of  the  total  catch  were  female  seals,  it  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  from  20,000  to  30,000  pups  were  found  dead  on  the  rook- 
eries in  the  fall  of  that  year. 


72  SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

What  Mr.  Murray  did  say  on  that  memorable  10th  of  August.  1801, 
is  a  matter  of  record,  as  follows: 

Accompanied  by  Auent  Barnes,  Mr.  Fowler,  of  the  North  American  Commercial 
Company,  and  by  the  i'ritish  commissioners.  1  visited  Tolstoi  rookery  on  August  11>, 
and  we  found  thousands  of  dead  pups,  covering  a  space  of  about  .">  acres,  and  their 
mother^  had  disappeared.  1  »r.  1  'a  u  son.  one  of  t  he  commissioners,  took  kodak  views 
of  the  place  and  when  he  asked  me  what  I  thought  was  the  cause  of  their  death,  I 
answered.  ••  Their  mothers  have  been  killed  at  sea." 

Since  1  left  St.  1'aul  Island  1  have  received  a  letter  from  Auent  Barnes,  in  which 
hes.i\s:  ••  You  remember  the  appearance  of  !<>]stoi.'  I  visited  Halfway  I'oint  along 
with  Mr.  Fouler  and  found  the  same  state  of  a  [fairs,  or  worse :  and  those  who  have 
been  to  Northeast  I'oint  say  it  is  still  worse  there." 

Bearing  in  mind  that  Northeast  I'oint  is  the  largest  rookery  in  the  world,  it  is  no 
exauuerai  ion  to  -a\-  that  bet  ween  I'd, 000  and  .'{n.ono  pups  are  lyiuy;  dead  at  St.  Paul 
Island  whose  mothers  were  slaiiulitei  ed  by  sealing  schooners  in  the  open  sea  and  the 
pups  left  to  starve  upon  the  rookeries. 

The  theoiy  of  an  occasional  epidemic  aiming  the  seals  has  been  broached,  and 
plausible  arguments  advanced  to  pro',  e  that  t  he  deerease  in  seal  1  i  fe  can  be  accounted 
for  without  blaming  the  sealing  schooners,  but  as  the  "oldest  inhabitant  "  on  the 
islands  has  IK;  recollection  of  anything  of  the  sort,  and  as  no  one  ever  saw  a  do/en 
dead  cows  on  any  rookery,  it  is  safe  to  say  there  is  no  foundation  for  or  truth  in 
the  epidemic  theory.  .Murray's  Report.  is',ii;  Senate  Fx.  Doc.  No.  lt>7.  Fifty-sec- 
ond Congress,  second  session.  > 

It  does  not  seem  possible  that  the  person  who  wrote  in  1S1H  the  report 
from  which  the  fore^oin0'  has  been  copied  could  have  a  admitted  the 
mortality  to  be  local/'  and.  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  never  did.  On  the 
contrary,  because  of  a  t  hirty  months"  continuous  residence  on  the  islands 
and  a  personal  acquaintance  and  very  intimate  and  friendly  relations 
with  every  person  on  both.  1  was  well  aware  of  the  annual  increase  of 
dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  from  the  time  of  the  first-confirmed  shrink- 
age of  the  seal  herd  in  1SS(J.  That  the  terrible  si°'ht  which  met  our 
°-a/e  on  Tolstoi  rookery  should  have  caused  exclamations  of  surprise 
from  all  of  us,  who  knew  its  real  meaning,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  1 
think,  for  the  starved  carcasses  emphasi/.ed  the  fact  that  in  spite  of 
the  efforts  of  the  Herts  of  the  ("nited  States  and  of  (Ireat  Britain,  the 
pelagic  sealers'  deadly  work  was  bein^  done  with  an  energy  and  suc- 
cess beyond  all  preceding  seasons,  and  that  unless  some  other  mode  of 
protection  could  be  devised  by  the  nations  directly  interested  the  seal 
herd  would  soon  be  annihilated. 

In  section  .')(>-  the  commissioners  say: 

I  >r.  Acland.  who  had  .lust   been  installed  as  medical  oliicer  on  St.   1'aul.  also  told  us 
that  he  had  \\ithin  a  few  days  examined   the  bodies  of  six  of  the  pups  from  Tolstoi; 
he  had  been  unable  to  lind  any  si^ns  of  disease,  but  that  all  those  examined 
were  vei'v  thin  and  without   food  in  the  stomachs. 

Dr.  Akerly  it  was  who  visited  the  rookeries  and  examined  the  dead 
pups,  and  whose  affidavit  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 
Comment!!!0,1  on  section  -.").">.  thev  sav: 


i  1  i  The  deal  h  of  so  many  youn.^  seals  on  t  he  islands  in  1SH1  was  wholly  exceptional 
and  unprecedented,  and  ii  occurred  in  the  very  season  which,  in  accordance  with  the 
modus  \i\endi.  every  effort  was  he  in -4-  made  to  drive  all  pelagic  sealers  from  Bering 
Sea.  I  ho-c  familial'  with  the  islands  were  evident  1\  pn/./.Ied  and  surprised  when 
their  attention  was  first  drawn  to  it.  and  were  for  some  time  in  doubt  as  to  what 
cause  it  miuht  be  attributed. 

It  is  true  we  were  rather  astonished  at  the  number  of  dead  pups  on 
the  rookeiies.  and  beino-  aware  "that  every  effort  was  bein^1  made  to 
prevent  pelagic  sealing."  we  were  pu//Ied  to  account  for  it  at  the  time, 
for  we  knew  of  no  cause  other  than  the  killin^of  t  he  females  at  sea  by 
which  it  could  be  accounted  for. 

Subsequently,  however,  we  learned  of  the  unprecedented  catch  made 
that  season  bv  the  sealing  licet,  and.  naturallv.  we  concluded  that  our 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  7 

conjectures  were  confirmed.  Nor  have  I  had  any  information  since 
sufficiently  reliable  to  cause  a  change  of  opinion. 

(3)  The  mortality  was  at  first  local,  and  though  later  a  certain  number  of  dead  pups 
were  found  at  various  rookeries  examined,  nothing  of  a  character  comparable  with 
that  on  Tolstoi  rookery  was  discovered. 

Treasury  Agent  Barnes,  who  was  on  St.  Paul  Island  long  after  the 
commissioners  left  in  the  fall,  is  my  authority  for  saying  that  the  "  same 
state  of  affairs  or  worse  was  found  later  on  Polavina  and  on  Northeast 
Point/' the  two  rookeries  visited  by  him. 

(4)  The  mortality  first  observed  on  Tolstoi  and  Polavina  was  at  too  early  a  date  to 
enable  it  to  be  reasonably  explained  by  the  killing  of  mothers  at  sea.     It  occurred, 
as  already  explained,  about  the  15th  or  20th  of  July,  at  a  time  at  which,  according 
to  the  generally  accepted  dates,  as  well  as  our  own  observations  in  1891,  the  females- 
had  not  begun  to  leave  the  rookeries  in  large  numbers,  or  when  leaving  them,  to  do 
more  than  swim  or  play  about  close  to  the  shore. 

As  already  shown,  there  were  no  dead  pups  seen — most  certainly 
nothing  worth  noting — until  August  19. 

As  the  commissioners  did  not  land  on  either  of  the  seal  islands  till 
the  latter  end  of  July — about  the  28th,  if  I  remember  rightly — I  can 
not  see  how  they  could  have  personally  observed  the  movements  of  the 
females  or  the  condition  of  the  breeding  grounds  about  the  15th  or  20th 
of  July. 

Section  356.  (a)  It  is  well  known  that  in  consequence  of  the  decreased  number  of 
killables  found  on  the  hauling  grounds  in  late  years,  it  has  been  found  necessary  to 
collect  these  close  to  and  even  on  the  edges  of  the  breeding  rookeries.  * 

It  is  also  known  that  the  driving  and  killing  in  the  early  part  of  the  season  of 
1891  was  pushed  with  unwonted  energy,  and  it  appears  to  be  quite  possi- 

ble that  the  females  thus  driven  from  their  young,  though  afterwards  turned  away 
from  the  killing  grounds  in  an  exhausted  and  thoroughly  terrified  state,  never  after- 
wards found  their  way  back  to  their  original  breeding  places,  but  either  went  off  to 
sea  or  landed  elsewhere  The  places  where  the  greatest  number  of  dead  pups  were 
first  seen  on  Tolstoi  and  Polaviua  were  just  those  from  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
which  drives  were  most  frequently  made. 

The  reading  of  the  above  quotation  staggers  one  who  ever  had  expe- 
rience on  a  rookery  or  a  killing  ground. 

The  "it  is  well  known,"  is  surely  unworthy  of  the  commissioners. 

Which  of  the  men  on  the  islands  ever  said  such  a  thing?  Whoever 
said  that  seals  were  collected  close  up  to  the  breeding  grounds!  No 
man  who  ever  made  a  drive  or  saw  one  made.  Who  is  responsible  for 
the  story  of  the  driving  of  females  in  the  early  part  of  the  season  of 
1891  f  No  sealer,  of  course,  for  he  would  know  that  there  are  no  females 
on  the  rookeries  in  the  early  part  of  the  season. 

The  commissioners  found  more  dead  pups  on  Tolstoi  than  on  any 
other  rookery,  and  they  endeavor  to  show  that  collecting  and  driving^ 
of  seals  from  near  the  breeding  rookeries  and  the  consequent  taking  of 
some  females  or  the  disturbance  of  the  herds  caused  the  death  of  the 
pups. 

The  island  records  of  all  the  drives  made  on  St.  Paul  Island  in  1891 
are  at  hand,  and  I  will  produce  a  copy  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that 
no  drives  whatever  were  made  from  either  Tolstoi  or  Polavina  during 
the  year  1891 ! 

And  yet  the  commissioners,  who  were  supposed  to  make  an  impartial 
report,  say: 

The  places  where  the  greatest  number  of  dead  pups  were  first  seen  on  Tolstoi  and 
Polaviua  were  just  those  from  the  immediate  vicinity  of  which  drives  were  most 
frequently  made. 

The  fact  is,  as  may  be  seen  by  consulting  the  records  for  1890-91,  in 
the  Appendix,  that  no  drives  were  made  from  Polavina  since  July  13r 


74 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


nor  from  Tolstoi  since  July  20,  1890;  so  that,  instead  of  being  tlie 
places  most  driven  from,  they  are  the  places  not  driven  from  at  all  in 
1891. 

The  following  table,  from  the  official  records  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, gives  all  of  the  killings  for  food  and  for  skins  (quota  and  modus 
vivendi)  from  the  close  of  the  season  July  20,  1890,  to  the  close  of  the 
season  August  10, 1891 : 


Date. 


1890. 

July   28 

Aug.  5 
14 
23 
30 

Sept.  6 
13 
22 
29 

Oct.  4 
14 
22 
•29 

Nov.  14 

Dec.  4 
1891. 

May  15 
29 

June  4 
11 
11 
12 
13 
13 
15 
16 
17 
18 
20 
25 
29 

July  8 
13 
15 
21 
27 

Aug.    3 

5 

10 


Rookery. 


Lukannon. 

Reef 

Lukannon. 
Reef 


.do. 


Lukannon . 

....do 

...do... 


Middle  Hill. 

Lukannon.. 

Middle  Kill. 

...do... 


....do. 
....do 
Reef... 


Reef. 


.do. 


Zapadnie 

Zapadnie  and  Reef. 
Northeast  Point... 

Zapadnie 

Northeast  Point... 

Middle  Hill 

Northeast  Point... 

Reef 

Southwest  Bay 

Reef 

Middle  Hill 

Reef. 


.do. 


do 

do 

Lxvkannon.. 
Middle  Hill, 
.do... 


Reef. 
Northeast  Point. 
Lukannon 


Total. 


Seals 
killed. 


Remarks. 


129 
123 
124 
155 
110 


110 
109 
109 
114 
95 
134 
255 


233 
114 
463 
718 

1,112 
428 
430 
232 
866 
842 
186 

1,027 
119 
215 
400 
100 
121 
122 
178 
248 
118 
407 
100 


10,  805 


For  food. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

For  food. 

Do. 

Do. 
Quota. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Modus  vivendi. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 


Surely  this  is  sufficient  to  convince  every  reasonable  man  that  instead 
of  impartially  inquiring-  into  the  causes  of  the  decrease  of  the  seal  herd 
and  the  best  possible  method  of  protection,  as  was  originally  intended, 
the  commissioners  have  endeavored  to  screen  the  result  of  the  work  oi 
the  pelagic  sealer  by  making  statements  about  drives,  stampedes,  and 
epidemics  on  the  islands  which  the  facts  do  not  warrant. 

In  another  chapter  will  be  found  quotations,  bearing  on  this  phase 
of  the  case,  from  the  argument  of  United  States  counsel  before  the  Tri- 
bunal of  Arbitration,  to  which  I  respectfully  call  the  most  earnest  atten- 
tion. 

In  order  to  show  that  the  "  dead-pup"  problem  was  not  a  new  thing 
on  the  islands  before  the  British  commissioners  " discovered"  it  in 
1891, 1  quote  from  the  testimony  of  intelligent  native  chiefs  and  sealers 
and  of  many  agents  of  the  Government  and  of  the  lessees,  who  have  had 
many  years'  experience  on  the  seal  islands,  and  they  are  unanimous  in 
saying  that  previous  to  1884  there  were  practically  no  dead  pups  to  be 
seen  on  the  rookeries  5  agents  who  were  on  the  islands  previous  to  1884 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  75 

saw  but  few  or  none.  That,  although  there  were  some  few  drowned  in 
the  surf  during  heavy  wind  storms,  or  trampled  to  death  occasionally 
by  the  fighting  bulls,  it  was  not  until  the  pelagic  sealer  appeared  in 
Bering  Sea  that  dead  pups  were  found  by  hundreds  and  by  thousands 
and  sometimes  by  the  acre. 

DEAD   PUPS   ON   THE   ROOKERIES. 

Dead  pups,  which  seemed  to  have  starved  to  death,  grew  very  numerous  on  the 
rookeries  these  latter  years,  and  I  noticed  when  driving  the  bachelor  seal  for  killing, 
as  we  started  them  op  from  the  beach,  that  many  small  pups,  half  starved,  apparently 
motherless,  had  wandered  away  from  the  breeding  grounds  and  become  mixed  with 
the  killable  seals.  The  natives  called  my  attention  to  these  waifs,  saying  that  it  did 
not  use  to  be  so,  and  that  the  mothers  were  dead,  otherwise  they  would  be  upon  the 
breeding  grounds.  (H.  X.  Clark,  lessees'  agent.) 

There  were  a  good  many  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  every  year  I  was  on  the  island, 
and  they  seemed  to  grow  more  numerous  from  year  to  year,  because  the  rookeries 
were  all  the  time  growing  smaller,  and  the  dead  pups  in  the  latter  years  were  more 
numerous  in  proportion  to  the  live  ones.  (Alex.  Hausson,  sealer.) 

The  seals  were  apparently  subject  to  no  diseases;  the  pups  were  always  fat  and 
healthy,  the  dead  ones  very  rarely  seen  on  or  about  the  rookeries  prior  to  1884.  Upon 
my  return  to  the  islands  in  1886  I  was  told  by  my  assistants  and  the  natives  that  a 
very  large  number  of  pups  had  perished  the  preceding  season,  a  part  of  them  dying 
upon  the  islands  and  others  being  washed  ashore,  all  seeming  to  have  starved  to  death. 
The  same  thing  occurred  in  1886  and  in  each  of  the  following  years  to  and  including 
1889.  Even  before  I  left  the  islands,  in  August,  1886,  1887,  and  1888, 1  saw  hundreds 
of  half-starved,  bleating,  emaciated  pups  wandering  aimlessly  about  in  search  of 
their  dams,  and  presenting  a  most  pitiable  appearance.  (H.  H.  Mclntyre,  general 
manager.) 

But  facts  came  under  my  observation  that  soon  led  me  to  what  I  believe  to  be  the 
true  cause  of  destruction.  For  instance,  during  the  period  of  my  residence  on  St. 
George  Island,  down  to  the  year  1884,  there  was  always  a  number  of  dead  pups,  the 
number  of  which  I  can  not  give  exactly,  as  it  varied  from  year  to  year  and  was 
dependent  upon  accidents  or  the  de^tructiveness  of  storms.  Young  seals  do  not  know 
how  to  swim  at  birth,  nor  do  they  learn  how  for  six  weeks  or  two  months  after 
birth,  and  therefore  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  waves  during  stormy  weather.  But  from 
the  year  1884  down  to  the  period  when  I  left  St.  George  Island  there  was  a  marked 
increase  in  the  number  of  dead  pups,  amounting,  perhaps,  to  a  trebling  of  the  num- 
bers observed  in  former  years,  so  that  I  would  estimate  the  number  of  dead  pups  in 
the  year  1887  at  about  5,0i)()  or  7,000  as  a  maximum. 

During  my  last  two  or  three  years  I  also  noticed  among  the  number  of  dead 
pups  an  increase  of  at  least  70  per  cent  of  those  which  were  emaciated  and  poor, 
and  in  my  judgment  they  died  from  want  of  nourishment,  their  mothers  having  been 
killed  while  away  from  the  island  feeding,  because  it  is  a  fact  that  pups  drowned 
or  killed  by  accidents  were  most  invariably  fat.  Learning  further,  through  the  Lon- 
don sales,  of  the  increase  in  the  pelagic  sealing,  it  became  my  firm  conviction  that  the 
constant  increase  in  the  number  of  dead  pups  and  the  decrease  in  the  number  of 
marketable  seals  and  breeding  females  found  on  the  islands  during  the  years  1885, 
1886,  and  1887  were  caused  by  the  destruction  of  female  seals  in  the  open  sea,  either 
before  or  after  giving  birth  to  the  pups.  The  mother  seals  go  to  feeding  grounds 
distant  from  the  islands,  and  I  can  only  account  for  the  number  of  starved  pups  by 
supposing  that  their  mothers  are  killed  while  feeding.  (T.  F.  Morgan,  lessees' agent.) 

TIME   OF  APPEARANCE   OF  DEAD  PUPS. 

The  loss  of  life  of  pup  seals  on  the  rookeries  up  to  about  1884  or  1885  was  compara- 
tively slight,  and  was  generally  attributed  to  the  death  of  the  mother  seal  from 
natural  causes  or  from  their  natural  enemies  in  the  water,  or,  as  sometimes  hap- 
pened, sudden  storms  with  heavy  surfs  rolling  in  from  certain  directions  onto  the 
Breeding  rookeries;  but  never  at  any  time  would  a  sufficient  number  of  pups  be 
killed  to  make  it  the  subject  of  speu-ial  comment  either  among  the  natives  or  the 
employees  of  the  company.  (W.  S.  Hereford,  M.  D.,  resident  physician.) 

Between  1874  and  1883  predatory  vessels  occasionally  appeared  in  Bering  Sea, 
among  them  the  Cyynet  in  1874  and  the  San  Diego  in  1876,  but  the  whole  number  of 
seals  destroyed  by  such  vessels  was  small,  and  had  no  appreciable  effect  upon  the 


76  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

rookeries.  In  1884  about  4,000  skins  were  taken  in  Bering  Sea  by  three  vessels,  and 
starved  pups  were  noticed  upon  the  islands  that  year  for  the  first  time.  In  1885 
about  10,000  skins  were  taken  in  this  sea,  and  the  dead  pups  upon  the  rookeries 
became  so  numerous  as  to  evoke  comment  from  the  natives  and  others  upon  the 
islands.  (H.  H.  Mclntyre.) 

NO  DEAD  PUPS  PRIOR  TO  1884. 

Poaching  in  Bering  Sea  had  not  begun  in  those  years  (from  1868  to  1876),  and  it 
was  a  rare  thing  to  find  a  dead  pup  about  the  shores  or  on  the  rookeries.  I  had 
frequent  occasion,  after  the  close  of  the  breeding  season,  to  visit  all  parts  of  the 
island,  and  there  was  no  appearance  of  gaunt  or  starved  seals.  Occasionally  a  dead 
pup  was  found  that  had  been  crushed  To  death  by  the  bulls  in  their  encounters  with 
each  other.  (George  R.  Adams,  lessees'  agent.) 

A  dead  pup  was  rarely  seen,  the  dead  being  a  small  fraction  of  1  per  cent  to  the 
whole  number  of  pups.  I  do  not  think  while  I  was  there  I  saw  in  any  one  season  50 
dead  pups  on  the  rookeries,  and  the  majority  of  dead  pups  were  along  the  shore, 
having  been  killed  by  the  surf.  (Charles  Bryant,  Treasury  agent.) 

There  were  not,  in  1880,  sufficient  dead  pups  scattered  over  the  rookeries  to  attract 
attention  or  to  form  a  feature  on  the  rookery.  (W.  H.  Dall,  naturalist.) 

During  the  time  I  was  on  the  islands  I  only  saw  a  very  few  dead  pups  on  the 
rookeries,  but  the  number  in  1884  was  slightly  more  than  in  former  years.  I  never 
noticed  or  examined  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  before  1881,  the  number  being  so 
small.  (H.  A.  Glidden,  Treasury  agent.) 

In  performing  my  official  duty  I  frequently  visited  the  breeding  rookeries,  and 
during  my  entire  stay  on  the  island  I  never  saw  more  than  400  dead  pups  on  all  the 
rookeries."  (Louis  Kimmel,  Treasury  agent,  1882-83.) 

I  never  saw  but  a  few  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  until  the  schooners  came  into 
the  sea  and  shot  the  cows  when  they  went  out  to  feed,  and  then  the  dead  pups 
began  to  increase  on  the  rookeries.  (Nicoli  Krukoff,  native  chief,  St.  Paul  Island.) 

I  am  informed  that  of  late  years  thousands  of  young  pups  have  died  on  the  islands 
while  the  season  was  in  progress.  Certainly  such  condition  did  not  exist  during  my 
residence  on  the  Pribilof  group.  The  pups  were  sometimes  trampled  upon  by  the 
larger  animals,  and  dead  ones  might  be  seen  here  and  there  on  the  rookeries;  but 
the  loss  in  this  particular  was  never  enough  or  important  enough  to  excite  any 
special  comment.  (J.  M.  Morton,  Treasury  agent,  1877-78.) 

Never  while  I  was  on  St.  George  Island  did  I  see  a  dead  pup  on  the  rookeries,  and 
I  certainly  should  have  noticed  if  there  had  been  any  number  on  the  island.  (B.  F. 
Scribner,  Treasury  agent,  1879-80.) 

While  I  was  on  the  island  I  never  saw  more  than  25  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries 
during  any  one  season.  I  have  seen  occasionally  a  dead  one  among  the  bowlders 
along  the  shore,  which  had  probably  been  killed  by  the  surf;  but  these  dead  pups 
were  in  no  instance  emaciated.  (George  Wardrnan,  Treasury  agent,  1881-1885.) 

While  on  St.  George  Island  there  were  practically  no  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries. 
I  do  not  think  I  saw  during  any  one  season  more  than  a  dozen.  On  St.  Paul  Island 
I  never  saw  any  dead  pups  to  amount  to  anything  until  1884,  and  then  the  number 
was  quite  noticeable.  (J.  H.  Moulton,  Treasury  agent.) 

NUMBER  OF  DEAD  PUPS  IN  1891. 

One  thing  which  attracted  my  attention  was  the  immense  number  of  dead  young 
seals;  another  was  the  presence  of  quite  a  number  of  young  seals  on  all  the  rook- 
eries in  an  emaciated  and  apparently  very  weak  condition.  I  was  requested  by  the 
Government  agent  to  examine  some  of  the  carcasses  for  the  purpose  of  determining 
the  cause  or  causes  of  their  death.  I  visited  and  walked  over  all  the  rookeries.  On 
all,  dead  seals  were  to  be  found  in  great  numbers.  Their  number  was  more  apparent 
on  those  rookeries,  such  as  Tolstoi  and  Halfway  Point,  the  water  sides  of  which  were 
on  smooth  ground,  and  the  eye  could  glance  over  patches  of  ground  hundreds  of  feet 
in  extent  which  were  thickly  strewn  with  carcasses. 

Where  the  water  side  of  the  rookeries,  as  at  Northwest  Point  and  the  reef  (south 
of  the  village),  were  on  rocky  ground  the  immense  number  of  dead  was  not  so  ap- 
parent, but  a  closer  examination  showed  that  the  dead  were  there  in  equally  great 
numbers  scattered  among  the  rocks.  In  some  localities  the  ground  was  so  thickly 
strewn  with  the  dead  that  one  had  to  pick  his  way  carefully  in  order  to  avoid  step- 


SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  77 

ping  011  the  carcasses.  The  great  mass  of  dead  in  all  cases  was  within  a  short  dis- 
tance of  the  water's  edge.  The  patches  of  dead  would  commence  at  the  water's  edge 
and  stretch  iu  a  wide  swath  up  into  the  rookery.  Among  the  immense  masses  of 
dead  were  seldom  to  be  found  the  carcasses  of  full-grown  seals,  but  the  carcasses 
were  those  of  pups,  or  young  seals  born  that  year.  1  can  give  no  idea  of  the  exact 
number  of  dead,  but  I  believe  that  they  could  only  be  numbered  by  the  thousands 
on  each  rookery.  Along  the  water's  edge  and  scattered  among  the  dead  were  quite 
a  number  of  live  pups,  which  were  iu  an  emaciated  condition.  Many  had  hardly  the 
strength  to  drag  themselves  out  of  one's  way ;  thus  contrasting  strongly,  both  in 
appearance  and  actions,  with  the  plump  condition  and  active,  aggressive  conduct  of 
the  healthy  appearing  pups.  (J.  C.  S.  Akerly,  M.  L>.,  resident  physician.) 

In  the  latter  part  of  July,  1891,  my  attention  was  called  to  a  source  of  waste,  the 
efficiency  of  which  was  most  startlingly  illustrated.  In  my  conversations  with  the 
natives  I  had  learned  that  dead  pups  had  been  seen  upon  the  rookeries  in  the  past 
few  years  in  such  numbers  as  to  cause  much  concern.  In  the  middle  of  July  they 
pointed  out  to  me  here  and  there  dead  pups  and  others  so  weak  and  emaciated  that 
their  death  was  but  a  matter  of  a  few  days.  By  the  time  the  British  commissioners 
arrived  the  dead  pups  were  in  sufficient  abundance  to  attract  their  attention,  and 
they  are,  I  believe,  under  the  impression  that  they  first  discovered  them. 

By  the  latter  part  of  August  deaths  were  rare,  the  mortality  having  practically 
ceased.  An  examination  of  the  warning  lists  of  the  combined  lleets  of  British  and 
American  cruisers  will  show  that  before  the  middle  of  August  the  last  sealing 
schooner  was  sent  out  of  Bering  Sea.  These  vessels  had  entered  the  sea  about  July 
1  and  had  done  much  effective  work  by  July  15.  The  mortality  among  the  pups  and 
its  cessation  is  synchronous  with  the  sealing  fleet's  arrival  and  departure  from  Bering 
Sea. 

There  are  several  of  the  rookeries  upon  which  level  areas  are  so  disposed  as  to  be 
seen  by  the  eye  at  a  glance.  In  September  Dr.  Akerly  and  I  walked  directly  across 
the  rookery  of  Tolstoi,  St.  Paul,  and  in  addition  to  the  dead  pups  in  sight,  they  lay 
in  groups  of  from  three  to  a  dozen  among  the  obscuring  rocks  on  the  hillside.  From 
a  careful  examination  of  every  rookery  upon  the  two  islands  made  by  me  in  August 
and  September,  I  place  the  minimum  estimate  of  the  dead  pups  to  be  15,000,  and  that 
some  number  between  that  and  30,000  would  represent  more  nearly  a  true  statement 
of  the  facts.  (J.  Stanley-Brown,  Treasury  agent,  1891-92.) 

No  mention  was  ever  made  of  any  unusual  number  of  dead  pups  upon  the  rookeries 
having  been  noticed  at  any  time  prior  to  my  visit  in  1870,  but  when  I  again  visited  the 
islands  in  1890,  I  found  it  a  subject  of  much  solicitude  by  those  interested  in  the  per- 
petuation, and  in  1891  it  had  assumed  such  proportions  as  to  cause  serious  alarm. 
The  natives  making  the  drives  first  discovered  this  trouble,  then  special  agents  took 
note,  and  later  on  1  think  almost  everyone  who  was  allowed  to  visit  the  rookeries 
could  not  close  their  eyes  or  nostrils  to  the  great  numbers  of  dead  pups  to  be  seen  on 
all  sides.  In  company  with  Special  Agent  Murray,  Captain  Hooper,  and  Engineer 
Brerton,  of  the  Corwin,  I  visited  the  Reef  and  Garbotch  rookeries,  St.  Paul  Island,  in 
August,  1891,  and  saw  one  of  the  most  pitiable  sights  that  I  have  ever  witnessed. 
Thousands  of  dead  and  dying  pups  were  scattered  over  the  rookeries,  while  the  shores 
were  lined  with  emaciated,  hungry  little  fellows,  with  their  eyes  turned  toward  the 
sea  uttering  plaintive  cries  for  their  mothers,  which  were  destined  never  to  return. 
Numbers  of  them  were  opened,  their  stomachs  examined,  and  the  fact  revealed  that 
starvation  was  the  cause  of  death,  no  organic  disease  being  apparent.  (W.  C.  Coul- 
son,  captain,  revenue  marine. 

The  schooners  increased  every  year  from  the  time  I  first  noticed  them,  until  in  1884 
there  was  a  licet  of  20  or  30,  and  then  I  began  to  see  more  and  more  dead  pups  on 
the  rookeries,  until  in  1891  the  fleet  of  sealing  schooners  numbered  more  than  100 
and  the  rookeries  were  covered  with  dead  pups.  (John  Fratis.) 

It  was  during  these  years  that  dead,  emaciated  pups  were  first  noticed  on  the  rook- 
eries, and  they  increased  in  numbers  until  1891,  in  which  year,  in  August  and  Sep- 
tember, the  rookeries  were  covered  with  dead  pups.  (Edward  Hughes,  employee  of 

lessees,  1888-1894.) 

On  the  19th  of  August,  1891,  I  saw  the  young  pups  lying  dead  upon  the  rookeries 
of  St.  Paul,  and  I  estimated  their  number  to  be  not  less  than  30,000;  and  they  had 
died  from  starvation,  their  mothers  having  been  killed  at  the  feeding  grounds  by 
pelagic  hunters.  (Joseph  Murray,  Treasury  agent,  1889-1894.) 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  this  past  season,  and  in  what 
proportion  to  former  years? — A.  1  have  seen  an  unusual  number  of  dead  pups  this 
year  on  the  hreedinsr  grounds ;  I  may  say  twice  as  many  as  formerly.  ( J.  C.  Redpath, 
lessees'  agent,  1875^1894.) 


<O  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

CAUSE    OF    DFAT1I    OF    PUPS. 

<t>.  I»iil  \  mi  see  any  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  this  season  J.  —  A.  Yes;  n,\  attention 
was  called  to  the  matter  l>y  ,1.  Stanley- Brown,  \\lio  rei|iiestetl  me  to  examine  them 
with  a  view  to  determining  the  cause  of  their  death.  I  examined  a  number  which 
had  apparently  recently  tiled.  Their  bodies  were  entirely  destitute  tit  fat.  and  no 
food  to  be  found  in  their  stomachs.  Alter  a  careful  examination  1  found  no  evidence 
of  disease. 

<t>.  What  do  you  assign  as  the  cause  of  their  death:1 — A.  I  believe  them  to  have 
died  of  starvation. 

<t>.  Why  do  you  think  they  died  of  starvation? — A.  From  the  fact  that  nearly  all 
the  dead  on  T he  rookery  were  pups,  and  from  absence  of  all  si >;ns  of  disease,  emaciated 
condition  of  their  bodio.  and  absence  of  food  from  their  stomachs,  i  .1.  C.  S.  Akerly, 
M.  D.  > 

There  were  a  «jreat  many  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  during  my  last  three  years  on 
St.  Paul  Island.  Many  of  them  wandered  helplessly  about,  away  from  the  groups 
or  pods  where  they  were  accustomed  to  lie.  ami  finally  starved  to  death.  \Ve  knew 
at  the  time  what  killed  them,  for  the  vessels  and  boats  were  several  times  plainly  in 
si^ht  from  the  island  shooting  seals  in  water,  and  t  he  revenue  cutters  and  company's 
vessels  arriving  at  the  island  frequently  reported  their  presence  in  Bering  Sea.  and 
sometimes  the  capture  of  these  marauding  crews.  If  all  had  been  captured  and  the 
business  broken  up  the  seal  rookeries  would  be  healthy  and  prosperous,  to-day,  instead 
of  beiim  depleted  and  broken  up.  I  speak  positively  about  it.  lice  a  use  no  other  cause 
can  be  assigned  for  their  depletion  upon  any  reasonable  hypothesis.  i\V.  ('.  Allis, 
lessees'  a.u'ent. 

Dr.  Akerly.  the  lessees'  physician  at  the  time,  made  an  autopsy  of  some  of  the 
carcasses  and  reported  that  he  could  find  no  traces  of  any  diseased  condition  what- 
ever, but  there  wa>  an  entire  absence  of  food  or  any  si^ns  of  nourishment  in  the 
stomach.  lie  fore  Dr.  Dawson  left  I  called  his  attention  to  \\hat  Pr.  Akerly  had 
done,  but  whether  he  saw  him  on  the  subject  I  can  not  tell.  (Milton  Barnes,  Treas- 
ury a^-ent.) 

I  procured  a  number  of  these  pups,  and  Dr.  Akerly,  at  my  request,  made  autop- 
sies, not  onlv  at  the  village,  but  later  on  upon  the  rookeries  themselves.  The  lun^'8 
of  these  dead  pups  tloatetl  in  water.  There  was  no  organic  disease  of  heart,  liver, 
lun.u's.  stomach,  or  alimentary  canal.  In  the  latter  there  was  but  little  and  often  no 
fecal  mat  ter,  and  t  he  stomach  was  cut  i  rely  empty.  Pups  in  the  last  st  a^'e  of  emacia- 
tion were  seen  by  me  upon  the  rookeries,  and  their  condition,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
dead  ones.  It-It  no  room  to  doubt  that  their  death  was  caused  by  starvation.  (.). 
Stanley-Brown.  ) 

The  pups  on  the  rookeries  were  fat  and  healthy,  and  while  I  was  on  the  islands  no 
epidemic  disease  ever  appeared  ainoni;  them,  nor  did  the  natives  have  stories  of 
an  epidemic  ever  destroying  them.  (Charles  Bryant,  Treasury  airent.  1SI>!M<S77. ) 

I  was  informed  at  the  time  (November.  1*!U  >  that  the  stoma-'hs  of  dead  pups  had 
been  examined  by  the  medical  ofticers  at  the  island  and  no  traces  of  food  found 
therein.  From  personal  observation  1  am  of  the  opinion  that  fully  !»<>  per  cent  of 
them  died  of  starvation,  .^reat  emaciation  hein.u  apparent.  (John  C.  Cantwell, 
re\  eniie  marine,  i 

I  ha\e  never  known  of  anv  sickness  or  epidemic  amon^  the  seals,  and  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  the  t  housands  of  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  last  year  died  of  starva- 
tion on  account  of  their  mothers  belli-  shot  and  killed  while  feeding  at  the  fishing 
bank>  in  the,  sea.  I  wa>  present  last  year  and  saw  some  of  the  dead  pups  examined. 
Their  stomachs  were  empty,  ami  they  presented  all  the  appearances  of  starvation. 
I  also  noticed  on  the  rookeries  a  «jreut  many  emaciated  pups,  which  on  a  later  visit 
would  be  dead.  It  has  a  1  \\  a  \  s  been  the  practice  prior  to  IS'.U  for  the  natives  to  kill 
:{.IMIII  to  1. lion  ]iup>  in  November  for  food,  and  we  always  find  their  stomachs  filled 
with  milk.  ('('.  L.  Fowler,  lessees'  a^ent.  \ 

It  is  my  opinion  that  the  cows  are  killed  by  the  hunters  when  they  <i'o  out  in  the 
sea  tt>  feed,  and  the  pups  are  left  to  die  and  do  die  on  the  island,  t.lohn  Fratis.  native 

sealer.  ) 

Thev  were  thin.  poor,  and  appeared  to  have  starved  to  death.  (Alex.  llaussen, 
sealer.) 

It  is  a  weli-knoun  fact  that  the  female  seals  leave  the  islands  and  ^o  ^real  dis- 
tances for  i'ood,  and  it  is  clearly  pi-oven  that  many  of  them  do  not  return,  as  the 
number  of  pups  starved  to  death  on  t  he  rookeries  demonstrates.  (W.  S.  Hereford, 
M.  D.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  79 

For  if  the  mother  seals  are  destroyed  their  young  <';«n  not  but  perish ;  no  other  dam 
will  suckle  them;  nor  ran  they  subsist  until  at  leant  3  or  4  months  old  without 
the  mother's  milk.  The  loss  of  this  vast  number  of  pups,  amounting  to  many  thou- 
sands, we  could  attribute  to  no  other  cause  than  the  death  of  the  mother  at  the  hands 
of  pelftgic  seal  hunters.  (II.  II.  Mclntyre.) 

(,>.  Uo\v  do  you  account  for  this:* — A.  I  think  the  cows  were  killed  by  the  poach- 
ers while  away  from  the  rookeries,  and  as  mother  seals  nurse  none  but  their  own 
young,  consequently  the  pups  whose  mothers  were  killed  die  from  starvation. 
(Antone  Melovedoff,  native  chief.) 

The  seals  are  never  visited  by  physical  disorders  of  any  kind,  so  far  as  I  could 
ascertain,  and  I  have  never  seen  on  their  bodies  any  blemishes,  humors,  or  eruption* 
which  might  be  attributed  to  disease.  (John  M.  Morton.) 

These  latter  pups  1  examined,  and  they  seemed  to  be  very  much  emaciated.  In 
my  opinion,  they  died  of  starvation,  caused  by  the  mothers  having  been  shot  while 
absent  from  the  islands  feeding.  Another  cause  of  their  starving  is  because  a  cow 
refuses  to  give  suck  to  any  pup  but  her  own,  and  she  recognizes  her  offspring  by 
its  cry,  distinguishing  its  voice  from  that  of  hundreds  of  others  which  are  con- 
stantly bleating.  (.).  II.  Moulton.) 

The  epidemic  theory  was  urged  very  strongly  in  1891,  when  the  rookeries  were 
found  covered  with  dead  puyjs,  but  a  careful  and  technical  examination  was  made 
of  several  of  the  dead  bodies  without  discovering  a  trace  of  organic  disease,  while 
starvation  was  so  apparent  that  those  who  examined  them  decided  that  it  was  the 
true  cause  of  their  death.  Had  sickness  or  disease  attacked  the  seal  herd,  it  is  only 
reasonable  to  suppose  a  few  grown  seals  would  be  found  dead  where  so  many  young^ 
ones  had  died  so  suddenly,  but  the  most  diligent  search  has  failed  to  find  a  grown 
seal  dead  upon  the  islands  from  unknown  causes.  From  the  discovery  of  the  islands 
until  the  present  time  the  flesh  of  the  fur  seal  has  been  the  daily  meat  ration  of  the 
natives  and  of  the  white  people,  and  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  a  tainted  or  diseased  carcasa 
has  never  been  known.  (L.  A.  Noyes,  M.  D.,  resident  physician,  1880-1894.) 

Some  of  these  losses  were  due  to  their  perhaps  too  early  attempts  to  swim.  When 
the  pup  is  a  few  months  old  the  mother  seal  conducts  it  to  the  water  and  teaches  it 
to  swim  near  the  shore.  If  a  heavy  sea  is  encountered  the  weak  little  pup  is  liable 
to  be  thrown  by  the  surf  against  the  rocks  and  killed,  but  under  natural  conditions, 
and  with  the  protection  to  the  rookeries  formerly  enforced  at  the  islands,  the  losses 
from  this  cause  and  all  others  combined  (save  alone  the  authorized  killing)  amounted 
to  an  infinitesimal  percentage  of  the  whole  numbers  in  the  herds.  (H.  G.  Otis, 
Treasury  agent,  1879-1881.) 

Another  theory,  equally  untrue,  was  that  an  epidemic  had  seized  the  herd;  but 
investigations  of  the  closest  kind  have  never  revealed  the  death  on  the  islands  of  a 
full-grown  seal  from  unknown  causes.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  flesh  of  the 
seal  is  the  staple  diet  of  the  natives,  and  that  it  is  eaten  daily  by  most  of  the  white 
employees  as  well;  and  yet  it  is  true  that  a  sign  of  taint  or  disease  has  never  been 
found  on  a  seal  carcass  in  the  memory  of  man.  It  was  not  until  so  many  thousands 
of  dead  pups  were  found  upon  the  rookeries  that  the  problem  was  solved.  The  truth, 
is,  that  when  the  cows  go  out  to  the  feeding  grounds  to  feed,  they  are  shot  and  killed 
by  the  pelagic  hunter,  and  the  pups,  deprived  of  sustenance,  die  upon  the  rookeries. 
Excepting  a  few  pups  killed  by  the  surf  occasionally,  it  has  been  demonstrated  that 
all  the  pups  found  dead  are  poor  and  starved,  and  when  examined  their  stomachs  are 
found  to  be  without  a  sign  of  food  of  any  sort.  The  resident  physician,  Dr.  Akerly, 
examined  many  of  them,  and  found  in  every  instance  that  starvation  was  the  cause 
of  death.  (J.  C.  Redpath.) 

A  double  waste  occurs  when  the  mother  seal  is  killed,  as  the  pup  will  surely  starve 
to  death.  A  mother  seal  will  give  sustenance  to  no  pup  but  her  own.  I  saw  sad 
evidences  of  this  waste  on  St.  Paul  Island  last  season,  where  large  numbers  of  pups 
were  lying  about  the  rookeries,  where  they  had  died  of  starvation.  (Commander 
Z.L.  Tanner,  U.  S.  X.) 

I  never  heard  of  any  disease  among  the  seal  herd,  nor  of  an  epidemic  of  any  sort  or 
at  any  time  in  the  history  of  the  islands.  (Daniel  Webster,  lessees'  agent,  1868-1894. ) 

If  the  mother  of  a  young  seal  is  killed,  the  pup  is  very  likely  to  die.  It  will  be  so- 
weak  that  the  storm  will  dash  it  ashore  and  kill  it,  or  it  may  die  of  starvation.  I 
have  seen  pups  hardly  larger  than  a  rat  from  lack  of  nourishment.  A  starved  or 
neglected  orphan  pup  is  nearly  sure  to  die.  At  one  storm  the  natives  found  over  300 
pups  washed  ashore  in  a  little  cove,  and  the  water  around  was  full  of  dead  pups.  It 
is  certain  that  nearly  all  the  dead  pups  were  orphans.  The  female  seal  when  suckling 
her  young  has  to  go  out  into  the  ocean  in  search  of  food,  and  it  is  those  animals,  or 
females  on  the  way  to  the  breeding  grounds  to  give  birth  to  the  young,  that  we  kill 
in  the  Bering  Sea.  (T.  T.  Williams,  quoting  Captain  Olsen.) 


80  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

The  foregoing  quotations  are  from  the  affidavits  and  reports  of  men 
who,  through  years  of  experience,  gained  a  practical  knowledge  of  fur- 
seal  life  in  all  its  details,  and  who  therefore  know  of  what  they  speak 
beyond  the  possibility  of  successful  contradiction. 

It  may  be  urged  by  our  opponents  that  the  testimony  is  that  of  men 
who  are  neither  learned  nor  scientific,  and  who,  being  employed  by 
either  the  Government  or  the  lessees,  had  private  and  personal  interests 
to  subserve. 

For  the  purpose  of  meeting  such  objections,  and  to  show  how  the 
practical  and  scientific  are  agreed  in  this  matter,  I  will  here  introduce  a 
paper  written  by  a  well-known  naturalist,  who  has  had  many  years 
practical  experience  among  the  fur  seals  on  the  Commander  Islands, 
and  who  has  not  now,  nor  ever  had,  any  interest  in  the  Pribilof  Islands 
or  the  Alaskan  seal  herd. 

His  testimony  is  therefore  the  more  valuable,  and  it  will  be  found 
that  it  confirms  my  position  in  every  particular: 

DEPOSITION    OF    NICHOLAS    A.    GRKBNITZKI,1    RUSSIAN    MILITARY    CHIEF    OF    THE    COM- 
MANDER  ISLANDS. 

I,  Nicholas  A.  Grebnitzki,  Russian  military  chief  of  the  Commander  Islands  dis- 
trict, with  the  rank  of  colonel,  make  the  following  statement: 

I  have  been  residing  on  the  Commander  Islands  and  have  directed  all  sealing  oper- 
ations there  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  and  during  this  whole  period  have  been  absent 
from  the  islands  but  very  little.  I  have  carefully  observed  seal  life,  the  condition  of 
the  rookeries,  and  the  method  of  taking  seals  at  all  seasons  and  under  all  conditions, 
with  the  object  of  keeping  the  Russian  Government  thoroughly  informed  as  to  its 
sealing  interests  and  the  proper  management  of  the  same. 

While  I  have  never  had  the  opportunity  to  examine  the  Pribilof  Islands  seals,  yet 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  express  the  opinion  that  that  herd  and  the  Commander  Islands 
herd  are  distinct  and  do  not  mingle  at  all.  There  are  some  natives  on  the  islands 
who  are  familiar  with  both,  and  who  state  that  there  is  a  marked  difference  in  the 
animals.  Besides,  my  studies  as  a  naturalist  enable  me  to  state  that  it  would  be 
contrary  to  all  reason  to  suppose  that  they  mingle  with  one  another.  The  Com- 
mander herd  approaches  very  closely  to  the  Robben  Island  herd  in  winter,  and  yet 
it  does  not  mingle  with  it.  Of  this  I  am  sure,  for  I  have  charge  of  Robben  Island 
as  well  as  of  the  Commander  Islands,  and  know  the  skins  of  the  two  herds  to  be  dif- 
ferent. The  skin  of  the  Commander  seal  is  thicker,  has'coarser  hair,  is  of  a  lighter 
color,  and  weighs  about  20  per  cent  more  than  a  Robben  skin  of  the  same  size. 

It  is  wholly  improbable  that  the  seals  of  the  Commander  herd  visit  any  land  other 
than  the  Commander  Islands.  I  believe  they  regard  these  as  their  home,  these  islands 
being  peculiarly  adapted  to  their  needs  at  the  period  to  bring  forth  their  young  and 
of  breeding.  The  fact  that  the  Robben  Island  herd  still  frequents  Robben  Island 
to  the  exclusion  of  any  other  land,  notwithstanding  it  has  been  subjected  there  to 
the  utmost  persecution,  shows  to  my  mind  conclusively  that  the  presence  of  man 
will  not  prevent  a  seal  herd  from  returning  to  the  same  land  year  after  year.  Even 
if  isolated  cases  have  occurred  (I  know  of  none)  in  which  for  various  causes  a  few 
of  the  Commander  Islands  seals  reached  other  shores,  such  exceptions  would  not  dis- 
prove the  general  rule  above  stated.  I  can  readily  understand  that  a  female  which 
had  been  wounded  in  the  water  might  be  subject  (sic)  to  seek  the  nearest  land  and 
there  give  birth  to  her  pup. 

Annually,  at  almost  stated  periods,  they  arrive  at  the  islands  and  immediately  pro- 
ceed to  occupy  the  same  grounds  which  have  been  occupied  during  past  years  in  a 
way  which  makes  it  impossible  to  doubt  that  they  are  familiar  with  the  locality.  I 
believe  that  at  some  time  during  the  year  every  seal  comes  ashore.  There  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that  a  certain  number  of  any  class  remain  swimming  about  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  islands  all  summer  without  landing,  although  there  is  considerable 
difference  in  the  time  at  which  different  classes  arrive. 

Soon  after  landing  at  the  Commander  Islands  those  cows  which  were  fertilized  the 
year  previous  give  birth  to  their  young.  A  cow  does  not,  except  in  very  rare  instances, 
give  birth  to  more  than  one  pup  in  a  season.  The  birth  of  pups  can  only  take  place 

1  No  written  evidence  having  been  produced  in  the  report  of  the  British  commis- 
sioners in  support  of  the  various  views  attributed  to  Mr.  Grebnitzki,  the  United 
States  have  deemed  it  desirable  to  obtain  from  that  official  a  written  expression  from 
his  views  upon  seal  life  in  general. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIB1LOF    ISLANDS.  81 

on  shore.  Cows  never  arrive  at  tlie  islands  with  new-born  pups.  But  the  impossi- 
bility of  birth  in  the  water  is  best  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  pup  when  first  born  is 
purely  a  land  animal  in  all  its  habits.  It  does  not  voluntarily  approach  the  water 
till  it  is  several  weeks  old,  and  then  it  is  obliged  to  learn  to  swim.  A  snri  will  some- 
tinn's  \\ash  the  young  pups  oil'  the  rocks,  when  they  are  sure  to  be  drowned.  The 
pups  can  not  swim  at  birth,  but  must  be  taught  by  their  mothers.  A  pup  would 
drown  if  thrown  into  the  sea  belore  learning  to  swim. 

Copulation  in  the  water  1  believe  to  be  impossible,  for  the  act  is  violent,  of  long 
duration,  and  in  general  character  similar  to  that  performed  by  land  animals. 

1  believe  that  the  seals  leave  the  vicinity  of  the  islands  mainly  on  account  of  the 
severity  of  the  winter.  Of  course,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  they  would  remain  on 
the  shore  all  the  year  round,  as  many  of  them  do  throughout  the  whole  of  the  sum- 
mer, for  they  \\oiild  be  obliged  to  take  to  the  water  to  obtain  food.  What  I  mean  is 
that  they  would  not  go  so  far  away  as  they  now  do,  but  would  remain  around  the 
islands,  and  thus  give  additional  proof  of  the  unquestionable  fact  that  they  regard 
them  as  their  homn.  I  base  this  statement  upon  the  fact  that  during  mild  winters  I 
have  myself  seen  them  in  large  numbers  off  the  Commander  Islands.  They  are  olten 
reported  about  50  miles  south  of  the  westernmost  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  and  the 
Kamchatka  Coast.  This  would  be  in  accord  with  the  habits  of  the  seals  of  the  South- 
ern Hemisphere,  which,  I  am  informed,  are  found  in  the  same  locality,  more  or  less, 
at  all  seasons.  The  seals  generally  leave  the  Commander  Islands  by  the  middle  of 
November,  by  which  time  it  has  become  cold  and  stormy,  but  in  mild  winters  they 
have  been  on  the  islands  as  late  as  December. 

I  do  not  think  that  fur  seals  should  be  classed  with  wild  animals  any  more  than 
sheep  or  cattle  when  out  on  large  pasturing  grounds.  Seals,  unless  needlessly 
frightened,  become  more  or  less  accustomed  to  the  sight  of  man  among  them  on  the 
rookeries,  and  while  on  land  are  at  all  times  under  his  complete  control.  A  few  men 
can  drive  a  large  number  of  them  without  difficulty.  They  are  intelligent  to  a  very 
high  degree,  and  can  be  made  to  become  in  a  short  time  pets.  The  breeding  males 
or  bulls  are  alone  aggressive. 

Seais  are  polygamous,  and  the  powers  of  fertilization  of  the  male  are  very  great. 
Since  the  births  are  about  equally  distributed  between  males  and  females,  it  follows 
that  under  natural  conditions  there  would  be  a  great  excess  of  male  life  over  that 
actually  needed  for  the  propagation  of  the  species,  and  it  is,  as  in  the  case  of  so 
many  other  animals,  for  the  positive  benefit  of  the  herd  as  a  whole  that  a  portion  of 
this  excess  of  male  life  be  killed  off  before  it  is  of  sufficient  age  to  go  oil  the  rook- 
eries. If  not  killed  off  the  competition  by  the  bulls  upon  the  rookeries  lor  females 
•would  be  destructive  of  much  lite.  This  competition  is  already  tierce  enough. 

During  some  of  the  years  prior  to  the  time  of  my  arrival  on  the  islands  there  had 
been  considerable  indiscriminate  killing  of  seals  without  regard  to  age  or  sex;  but 
during  the  fifteen  years  of  my  management  of  the  Commander  Islands  rookeries  all 
seals  which  have  been  killed  constituted  a  portion  of  the  excess  of  males  above 
referred  to,  and  known  as  bachelors,  or  hollus<  hickie.  This  is  why  the  rookeries  are 
to-day  in  a  much  better  condition  than  when  I  first  went  to  the  Commander  Islands, 
notwithstanding  that  until  the  year  1891  a  gradually  increasing  number  of  large 
skins  has  been  taken.  From  1886  to  1890  the  average  annual  catch  was  about  50,000, 
the  skins  all  being  large.  The  last  two  years  I  have  reduced  the  catches,  because  I 
now  think  50,000  skins  somewhat  in  excess  of  what  the  rookeries  can  yield,  and  for 
other  causes  which  I  will  mention  later.  I  feel  very  sure  that  the  great  cause  of 
this  diminution  is  pelagic  sealing. 

This  year  I  have  counted  over  3,500  skins  seized  on  poaching  vessels,  and  have  found 
91)  p;T  cent  to  be  skins  of  females.  They  were  skins  taken  from  Commander  Island 
seals. 

As  to  skins  taken  near  Pribilof  Islands  I  counted  the  skins  seized  in  the  Rosa  Olsen 
and  found  two-thirds  of  them  were  skins  of  females.  These  were  taken,  as  the  log 
book  of  the  Kosa  Olscn  shows,  over  80  miles  from  shore. 

I  consider  it  a  false  argument  to  say  that  the  killing  of  a  proper  portion  of  the 
excess  of  male  life  is  bad,  merely  because  it  is  an  interference  with  the  order  of 
nature.  If  not  interfered  with,  nature  will  produce  an  overpopulation  of  the  rook- 
eries, which  would,  of  course,  be  a  bad  thing.  By  the  present  mode  of  killing  a 
certain  number  of  young  males,  population  is  regulated.  No  tacts  can  be  brought 
forward  to  show  that  this  method  is  not  the  right  one.  Past  experience  shows  that 
it  is  right. 

The  method  is  not  proved  to  be  bad  by  showing  that  during  some  years  too  many 
males  may  have  been  killed,  and  that  the  rookeries  have  thereby  suffered.  When 
such  mistakes  have  been  made  they  can  be  corrected  by  reducing  the  number  of 
males  to  be  killed  for  a  few  years;  for  the  most  absolute  control  can  be  exercised 
over  the  herd  while  it  is  on  land.  I  claim  that  the  method  now  pursued,  when 
executed  under  proper  regulations,  is  in  theory  and  practice  the  only  one  by  which 
sealing  can  be  carried  on  commercially  without  injuring  the  vitality  of  the  herd 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt. 


82  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOP    ISLANDS. 

and  its  ability  to  maintain  its  numbers  at  the  proper  limit.  It  does  not  cause  the 
seals  to  change  their  habits  in  any  way,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  even  an  excessive 
killing  of  ^ouug  males  on  the  islands  would  have  the  effect  of  altering  the  habits  of 
the  female  seals  with  regard  to  landing  and  cause  them  to  remain  about  the  islands 
iuste:id  of  coming  on  shore. 

Cows,  except,  perhaps,  in  rare  cases  of  accident  or  for  scientilic  purposes,  are 
never  allowed  to  be  killed  on  the  islands,  and  the  reason  for  this  is  that  all  cows 
are  needed  for  breeding  purposes.  To  kill,  therelore,  any  cow  except  a  barren  one 
(and  there  are  few  barren  ones  except  amongst  the  very  old  cows)  inflicts  a  much 
greater  injury  on  the  herd  than  the  loss  of  a  single  life.  It  is  not  true  that  because 
it  is  proper  to  kill  a  certain  number  of  males  it  is  also  proper  to  kill  a  certain  num- 
ber of  females.  Hut  assuming  that  it  might  at  some  time  become  desirable  to  kill 
some  females,  it  would  still  be  wholly  improper  to  kill  them  without  regard  to  size 
or  condition,  as  is  the  case  when  they  aie  killed  in  the  water. 

There  is  at  the  present  time  upon  the  Commander  Islands  an  abundance  of  male 
lifc  for  breeding  purposes,  and  there  is  no  fear  that  any  female  will  not  be  served 
from  lack  of  virile  males.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  there  were 
in  1892  r«  latively  fewer  females  than  in  former  years,  and  I  attribute  this  to  two 
causes:  First,  to  killing  of  se;ils  in  the  water,  and,  second,  raids  upon  the  islands. 
The  tirst  of  these  causes  is  by  far  the  more  important. 

The  raids  have,  owing  to  the  great  amount  of  foggy  weather,  taken  place,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  notwithstanding  the  greatest  precautions  to  guard  against  them.  The 
raiders  Kill  males,  females,  and  pups  without  discrimination;  but  however  injuri- 
ously the  raids  have  affected  the  rookeries  still  they  are  of  much  less  importance 
than  the  killing  of  Commander  Islands  seals  in  the  water.  During  the  past  two  sun> 
mers,  and  especially  during  the  last  one,  this  killing  in  the  waters  has  become  so 
preat  that  if  allowed  to  continue  in  future  years  the  herd  will  be  in  danger  of 
ultimate  extinction. 

1  do  not  know  exactly  how  wasteful  this  method  may  be,  from  the  fact  that  all  the 
animals  wounded  or  killed  are  not  captured,  though  I  am  told  that  much  loss  occurs 
in  that  way,  and  I  know  that  under  certain  conditions  a  seal  shot  dead  will  sink  at 
once.  I  can  state  positively,  however,  from  actual  experience  and  personal  examina- 
tion, that  a  vast  proportion,  fully  96  per  cent,  of  the  skins  taken  by  this  method 
during  the  present  year  are  those  of  female  animals.  In  addition,  a  certain  number 
of  the  skins  so  taken  are  those  of  very  young  seals,  probably  of  both  sexes,  such  as 
are  never  killed  on  land. 

Very  few  of  the  females  killed  are  barren,  no  matter  when  or  where  they  are 
killed.  Females  taken  early  in  the  season  are  generally  heavy  with  young,  in  which 
condition  they  travel  slowly  as  compared  with  the  other  seals.  The  killing  of  such 
a  female  involves,  of  course,  the  immediate  loss  of  two  lives.  But  even  when  the 
femah?  is  taken  alter  she  has  been  on  shore  and  given  birth  to  her  yonug  this  same 
result  follows  eventually,  fora  seal  will  suckle  only  her  own  pup,  and  the  pups  are 
for  the  rirst  three  to  tive  mouths  dependent  altogether  on  their  mothers  for  food. 
Consequently  when  the  mothers,  who,  after  thebirth  of  their  pups,  leave  the  rookeries 
in  search  of  food  (traveling  sometimes  considerable  distances,  I  do  not  know  exactly 
how  far),  fail  to  return,  iheir  pups  must  necessarily  die. 

There  are  always  a  few  dead  pups  to  be  found  on  the  rookeries  whose  death  is  not 
due  to  that  of  their  mothers;  but  during  the  last  year  or  two  a  greater  number  of 
dead  pups  have  been  actually  noticed  than  heretofore,  and  have  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  all  persons  on  the  islands  who  are  at  all  familiar  with  seal  life.  It  can  not 
be  successfully  contended  that  they  all  died  of  natural  causes.  There  is  no  disease 
among  the  Commander  Island  seals,  and  while  a  certain  number  of  young  pups  are 
always  exposed  to  the  danger  of  being  crushed  to  death  (but  not  as  a  result  of  the 
drives  which  are  made  to  collect  seals  for  killing)  or  of  being  drowned  by  the  surf, 
yet  these  causes  of  death  will  not  account  for  the  greater  mortal ity  of  pups  which 
t  ok  place  during  the  past  summer.  Besides,  the  bodies  of  the  dead  pups  1  refer  to 
are  those  of  starved  animals,  being  greatly  emaciated. 

It  is  chiefly  during  the  next  few  years  that  the  effects  of  the  recent  killing  of 
females  will  become  most  noticeable,  because  many  of  the  pups  which  in  those  years 
would  have  become  bachelors  or  holluschickie  have  never  been  born  or  died  soon 
alter  birth. 

With  regard  to  the  driving  of  the  seals  from  the  beaches  to  the  places  of  slaughter, 
while  it  does  not  benefit  them,  yet  I  believe  that  there  are  very  few  cases  in  which 
it  does  them  any  harm  even  if  they  are  redriven.  I  am  sure  it  does  not  render  them 
impotent.  It  should  be  remembered  that,  unlike  the  hair  seals,  they  are  fairly 
adapted  to  movement  on  land,  as  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  they  are  in  some  cases 
actually  driven  considerable  distances  over  ground  that  is  both  rough  and  steep. 

Since  the  killing  of  seals  in  the  water  is  wasteful,  and  in  every  sense  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  nature  (which  require  that  special  protection  be  afforded  to  the  females 
and  young  of  all  animals),  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  it  should  be  entirely  forbidden. 
If  it  is  only  partly  suppressed  or  prohibited  within  a  certain  distance  from  the 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  83 

islands,  the  evil  would  not  be  cured,  although  its  etlccts  might  be  less  noticeable, 
for  the  killing  of  females,  many  of  them  heavy  with  young,  would  necessarily  con- 
tinue, since  all  experience  shows  that  female  auimalH  always  constitute  the  chief 
catch  of  the  open  sea  sealer. 

NICHOLAS  A.  (JKKBXIT/KI, 

District  Chief  of  the  Command?  r  IxluiidH,  District  St.  rettmbury. 
(Counter  case,  United  States,  p.  362.) 

Here  we  have  the  testimony  of  one  who  is  at  once  a  scientist  and  one 
of  the  most  practical  of  men;  a  man  who  has  been  officially  interested 
in  the  fur  seal  industry  for  many  years,  and  who  has  devoted  a  great 
part  of  his  life  to  the  scientific  and  practical  study  of  the  species. 

Every  word  he  utters  shows  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  subject 
treated,  and  his  practical  common  sense  and  scientific  acumen,  coupled, 
with  a  breadth  of  view  all  his  own,  gives  an  extraordinary  value  tp 
everything  he  says  on  the  subject  of  fur  seals. 

True,  he  is  interested  in  the  fur-seal  industry  on  the  Commander 
Islands,  belonging  to  Russia,  and  for  that  reason  he  may  fall  under  the 
ban  of  the  hypercritical  who  seem  to  suspect  the  honesty  and  thq 
motives  of  all  who  have,  or  ever  did  have,  any  connection  with  the  fur? 
seal  islands  on  either  side  of  Bering  Sea. 

That  the  class  of  critics  alluded  to  may  be  silenced  on  this  point  I 
will  introduce  the  testimony  of  leading  naturalists,  which  is  in  full 
accord  with  all  that  I  have  already  quoted.  It  will  be  seen  that  Dr. 
Merriam  briefly  stated  the  question  at  issue  to  the  naturalists  of  Europe 
and  asked  for  their  views,  which  were  freely  given  and  which  I  take  the 
pleasure  of  quoting  in  full. 

CIRCULAR  LETTER  OF  DR.  C.  HART  MERRIAM. 

Dr.  C.  Hart"  Merriam,  one  of  the  American  Bering  Sea  commission- 
ers, addressed  the  following  circular  letter  to  various  leading  naturalists 
in  diflerent  parts  of  the  world,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  their  views 
as  to  the  best  method  of  preserving  the  fur  seals  of  Alaska: 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  2,  1892. 

DEAR  SIR:  The  Government  of  the  United  States  having  selected  me  as  a  natu- 
ralist to  investigate  and  report  upon  the  condition  of  the  fur-seal  rookeries  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands,  in  Bering  Sea,  with  special  reference  to  the  causes  of  decrease  and 
the  measures  necessary  for  the  restoration  and  permanent  preservation  of  the  seal 
herd,  I  visited  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  made  an  extended  investigation  of  the  sub- 
ject, the  results  of  which  are  here  briefly  outlined. 

FACTS  IN  THE  LIFE  HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTHERN  FUR  SEAL  (CALLORHINU8  URSINU8), 

(1)  The  fur  seal  is  an  inhabitant  of  Bering  Sea  and  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk,  where  it 
breeds  on  rocky  islands.     But  lour  breeding  colonies  are  kuown,  namely,  (1)  the 
Pribilof  Islands,  belonging  to  the  United  States;  (2)  the  Commaudi-r  Islands,  belong- 
ing to  Russia;  (3)  Roblieu  Reef,  belonging  to  Russia;  and  (4)  the  Kurile  Islands, 
belonging   to  Japan.     The   Pribilof  and  Commander  islands  are  in   Bering  Sea; 
Robben   Keef  in  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk,  near  the  island  of  Saghalien,  and  the  Kurile 
Islands  between  Yezo  and  Kamtchatka.     The  species  is  not  known  to  breed  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world. 

(2)  lu  winter  the  fur  seal  migrates  into  the  North  Pacific  Ocean.     The  herds  from 
the  Commander  Islands,  Robben  Keef,  and  the  Kurilo  Islands  move  south  along  the 
Japan  Coast.     The  Pribilof  Islands  herd  move  south  through  the  passes  in  the  Aleu- 
tian chain.     The  old  breeding  males  are  not  kuown  to  range  much  south  of  these 
islands.     The  females  and  yonng  reach  the  American  Coast  as  far  south  as  California. 

(3)  Returning,  the  herds  of  females  move  northward  along  the  coast  of  California, 
Oregon,  Washington,  and  British  Columbia  in  .January,  February,  and  March,  «-ccur- 
riiig  at  varying  distances  from  shore      Following  the  Alaska  coast  northward  and 
westward  they' leave  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  in  June,  traversing  the  passes  in  the 
Aleutian  chain,  and  proceed  at  once  to  the  Pribilot  Islands. 

(4)  The  old  (breeding)  males  reach  the  islands  much  earlier,  the  first  coming  the 
first  week  in  April  or  early  in  May.     They  at  once  land  and  take  stands  on  the  rook- 
eries, where  they  await  the  arrival  of  the  females.     Each  male  (called  a  bull)  selects 


8-i  SKAL    LIFK    OX    THK    PKIim/>F    ISLANDS. 

a  large  rod;.  MM  or  near  which  he  remains,  unless  driven  olt'  by  stronger  bulls,  until 
August,  never  h-a  ving  lor  a  single  install  t .  night  or  day. and  ta  i\  ing  neither  food  nor 
•water.  I  lei  ore  the  arrival  of  the  females  ^called  cows)  the  bulls  tight  savagely  among 
them.-el\  es  toi  positions  mi  tin-  n><  >ke,i  ies.  and  many  are  severely  \sounded.  All  the 
bulls  ale  located  by  .1  Mile  I'D. 

5  The  piegnant  co\\s  begin  arriving  early  in  June,  and  soon  appear  in  large 
schools  or  dro\  es.  immense  numbers  taking  their  places  on  t  he  r«okei  ies  each  day 

bet  ween  .111  lie  1  L'  ai,d  t  lie  .  lid  of  t  lie  inont  1'..  \  ar\  ing  with  the  \\  eat  her.  They  assem- 
ble alxuit  the  old  bulls  in  compact  Croups  called  harems.  The  harems  are  complete 
t-arh  in  July,  at  \vhieh  time  the  breeding  rookeries  attain  their  maximum  si/.e  aud 
compactness 

i  r> >  I  he  co\\s  give  birth  to  their  young  soon  alter  taking  their  places  on  the 
harems.  The  period  of  gestation  is;  between  eleven  and  twelve  months. 

(~  A  single  young  is  born  in  each  instance.  The  young  at  birth  are  about  equally 
divided  as  to  sex. 

i<x  1  he  act  of  nursing  is  performed  on  land;  never  in  the  water.  It  is  necessary, 
therefoi  e.  tor  the  cows  to  remain  at  the  islands  until  the \oung  are  weaned,  which 
is  \\  hen  they  are  4  or  5  months  old. 

(!|vi  The  Inr  seal  is  polygamous,  and  the  male  is  at  least  three  times  as  large  as  the 
.female.  Kadi  male  serves  15  to  -5  females. 

<H»>  C'ojMilatioii  takes  pi  ee  on  land.  Most  of  the  cows  are  served  by  the  middle 
of  ,)ulv.  or  soon  alter  the  birth  >  f  their  pups.  They  then  take  to  the  water,  aud 
come  and  go  for  food  while  nursing. 

(11)  The  pups  huddle  toget her  in  small  groups  called  pods,  at  some  distance  from 
the  water.  \Yhcn  ti  or  s  weeks  old  they  move  down  to  the  water's  edge  and  learn  to 
swim.  The  pups  are  not  born  at  sea,  and  if  soon  alter  birth  they  are  washed  into 
the  sea  they  are  drowned. 

d->  The  cows  are  believed  to  take  the  bull  first  when  two  years  old,  and  deliver 
their  iirst  pup  when  X  years  old. 

(i:;)  1  nils  first  take  stands  on  the  breeding  rookeries  when  b'  or  7  years  old. 
lie': ore  this  they  are  not  powerful  enough  to  tight  the  older  bulls  for  positions  on  the 
harems. 

11  Cows  when  nursing,  and  the  nonbreeding  seals,  regularly  travel  long  dis- 
tances to  feed,  'f  hey  are  commonly  found  100  to  150  miles  from  the  islands  and 
sometimes  at  greater  distances. 

A  15  i  '1  he  food  of  the  fur  seal  consists  of  fish,  squids,  crustaceans,  and  probably 
otL'vf  forms  of  marine  life  aNo. 

(lii  i  The  great  majority  of  cows.  pups,  aud  such  of  the  breeding  bulls  as  have  not 
ah-'adv  gone,  leave  the  islands  about  the  middle  of  No\  ember,  the  date  var\iug 
considerably  with  the  season. 

il7  The  nonbreeding'  male  seals  ( hollusdiickie ).  together  with  a  few  old  bulls, 
remain  until  January,  and  in  rare  instances  even  until  i  ebruary. 

i  l-s  The  i  ui  seal  as  a  species  is  present  at  the  Pri  bilof  Isl  mds  eight  or  nine  months 
of  t  he  year,  or  trom  two-iliirds  to  three-fourths  of  the  time,  and  in  mild  winters 
sometimes  during  the  entire  year.  The  breeding  bulls  arrive  earliest  and  remain 
continuously  on  the  islands  about  four  months;  the  breeding  cows  remain  about 
nix  months,  and  the  nonbreeding  male  seals  about  eight  or  nine  months,  aud  some- 
times during  the  ent  ire  year. 

M-.AI.S    KII.I.I'.I)    ON    T1IK    I'KIBII.OF    ISLANDS. 

i  1!»)  The  only  seals  killed  for  commercial  purposes  at  the  seal  islands  are  non- 
breeding  males  under  5  or  ti  \  ears  of  age.  called  hollusdiickie  .  They  come  up  on 
the  rookeries  apart  from  the  breeding  seals,  and  large  numbers  are  present  by  the 
latter  part  of  May.  They  constant  ly  pass  back  and  forth  from  the  water  to  the 
'hauling  gi«unds.  These  animals  are  driven  by  the  natives  (Aleuts)  from  the  haul- 
ing grounds  to  t  he  kill  ing  grounds,  \\  here  t  hey  are  divided  up  into  little  groups.  Those 
Selected  as  of  suitable  si/e  are  killed  with  a  club  by  a  blow  on  the  head;  the  others 
jr0  into  the  water  and  soon  reappear  on  the  hauling  grounds.  In  this  way  about 
100.  ODD  young  males  ha\  e  been  killed  annually  on  the  1'ribilof  Islands  for  twenty 
year-. 

(  _'D  ,  In  add  i  i  ion  to  the  commercial  killing  a  hove  described,  a  number  of  male  pups 
\vereformerlv  killed  cadi  year  to  furnish  food  for  the  natives,  but  the  killing  of 
jiups  i>  now  prohibited  by  the  t  .o\  ei  nmeiit . 


The  rookerie^  on  both  St.  1'aul  and  St.  <  Jeorge  islands  bear  unmistakable  evidence 
of  having  undergone  great  reduction  in  si/e  during  the  past  lew  years.  This  evi- 
dence, consists  i  1  "in  the  universal  testimony  of  all  who  saw  them  at  an  earlier  period, 
and  (2)  in  the  presence  upon  the  back  part  of  cadi  rookery  of  a  well-marked  strip 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


or  zone  of  grass-covered  land,  varying  from  100  to  500  feet  in  width,  on  which  the 
Btones  and  bowlders  are  flipper-worn  and  polished  by  the  former  movements  of  the 
seals,  and  tin;  grass  is  yellowish-green  in  color  and  of  a  different  genus  (Ulyceria. 
atif/HHtuta)  from  the  rank,  high  grass  usually  growing  immediately  behind  it  (Elymus 
mollis).  In  many  places  the  ground  between  the  tussocks  ami  hummocks  of  grass  is 
covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  felting,  composed  of  the  shed  hairs  of  the  seals  matted 
down  and  mixed  with  excrement,  urine,  and  surface;  soil.  The  exact  year  when  this 
yellow-grass  /one  was  last  occupied  by  seals  is  difficult  to  ascertain,  but  the  bulk  of 
testimony  points  to  1886  or  1887.  The  aggregate  si/e  of  the  areas  formerly  occupied 
is  at  least  four  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  present  rookeries. 

CAUSES   WHICH    LED   TO   THE   DEPLETION   OF   THE   ROOKERIES. 

The  seals  which  move  northward  along  the  coast  of  the  northwestern  United 
States,  British  Columbia,  and  southeastern  Alaska  from  .January  until  late  in  June* 
are  chiefly  pregnant  females,  and  about  90  per  cent  of  the  seals  killed  by  pelagic 
sealers  in  the  North  Pacific  are  fnnales  heavy  with  young.  For  obvious  reasons 
many  more  seals  are  wounded  than  killed  outright,  and  many  more  that  are  killed 
sink  before  they  can  be  reached,  ami  consequently  are  lost.  As  each  of  these  contains 
a  young,  it  is  evident  that  several  are  destroyed  to  every  one  secured. 

For  several  years  the  pelagic  sealers  were  content  to  pursue  their  destructive  work 
in  the  North  Pacific,  but  of  late  they  have  entered  Bering  Sea,  where  they  continue 
to  capture  seals  in  the  water  throughout  the  entire  summer.  The  females  killed 
(luring  this  period  are  giving  milk  and  are  away  from  the  islands  in  search  of  food. 
Their  young  starve  to  death  on  the  rookeries.  I  saw  vast  numbers  of  such  dead 
pups  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul  last  summer  (1891),  and  the  total  number  of  their 
carcasses  remaining  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  at  the  end  of  the  season  of  1891  has  been 
estimated  by  the  United  States  Treasury  agents  at  not  less  than  20,000. 

The  number  of  seal  skins  actually  secured  and  sold  as  a  result  of  pelagic  sealing  is 
shown  in  the  following  table  : 


Year. 

Number 
of  skins. 

Year. 

Number 
of  skins. 

Year. 

Number 
oi  skins. 

Year. 

Number 
of  skins. 

1872 

1  029 

1877 

it  \ 

1882 

17  700 

1887 

33  goo, 

1878 

264 

18H3 

9*  195 

1888 

36  818 

1874  .. 

4  949 

1879 

12  500 

18H4 

14  000 

1889 

39,563 

1875 

1  646 

1880 

13  6dO 

1885 

13  000 

1890 

51  404 

1876 

2  042 

1881 

13  541 

38  907 

1891 

62  50O 

! 

! 

Inasmuch  as  the  number  of  seals  annually  secured  by  pelagic  sealing  represents 
but  a  fraction  of  the  total  number  killed,  a  glance  at  the^  above  figures  is  enough  to* 
show  that  the  destruction  of  seal  life  thus  produced  is  alone  sufficient  to  explain  the 
present  depleted  condition  of  the  rookeries. 

Pelagic  sealing  as  now  conducted  is  carried  on  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  from 
January  until  late  in  June,  and  in  Bering  Sea  in  July,  August,  and  September. 
Some  sealing  schooners  remain  as  late  as  November,  but  they  'do  so  for  the  purpose 
of  raiding  the  rookeries. 

It  has  been  alleged  that  overkilling  of  young  males  at  the  islands  is  a  principal 
cause  of  the  depleted  condition  of  the  rookeries. 

In  reply  to  this  contention,  it  is  only  nec«  ssary  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  number  of 
male  and  female  fur  seals  is  equal  at  birth,  that  the  species  is  polygamous,  and  that 
each  male  serves  on  an  average  at  least  15  to  25  females.  It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  there  must  be  a  great  superabundance  of  males,  of  which  a  large  percentage 
may  be  killed  annually  forever  without  in  the  slightest  degree  endangering  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  the  herd.  Furthermore,  it  has  been  shown  that  the  killing  of  seals 
at  the  Pribilof  Islands  is  completely  under  the  control  of  man  and  is  restricted  to 
the  superfluous  males,  for  selection  as  to  sex  and  age  can  be  and  is  exercised,  so  that 
neither  females  nor  breeding  males  are  killed.  It  is  evident  that  this  killing  of  non- 
breeding  males  could  in  no  way  affect  the  size  or  annual  product  of  the  breeding- 
rookeries  unless  the  number  killed  was  so  great  that  enough  males  were  not  left  to 
mature  for  breeding  purposes.  There  is  no  evidence  that  this  has  ever  been  the  case. 
Moreover,  all  seals  kil.ed  or  wounded  are  invariably  secured  and  their  skins  mar- 
keted ;  in  other  words,  there  is  neither  waste  of  the  seal  herd  nor  impairment  of  the 
productiveness  of  the  breeding  stock. 

Pelagic  sealing,  on  the  other  hand,  is  wasteful  in  the  extreme  and  is  directed  to 
the  fountain  head  or  source  of  supply.  From  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  selection 
can  not  be  exercised,  and  a  large,  percentage  of  seals  wounded  are  lost.  Owing  to 
the  peculiar  movements  of  the  seal  herds,  it  so  happens  that  about  90  per  cent  of  the1 
seals  killed  ia  the  North  Pacific  are  females  heavy  with  young,  entailing  a  destruc- 


8t>  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

tiou  of  two  seal  lives  for  every  adult  seal  killed.  In  Bering  Sea,  also,  large  numbers 
of  females  are  taken;  these  females  are  in  milk,  and  their  young  die  of  starvation  on 
the  rookeries. 

Pelagic  sealing  as  an  industry  is  of  recent  origin,  and  may  be  said  to  date  from 
1879.  The  number  of  vessels  engaged  has  steadily  increased,  as  has  the  number  of 
seals  killed,  until  it  appears  that  unless  checked  by  international  legislation  the 
commercial  exterminatiou  of  the  seal  is  only  a  matter  of  a  few  years.  It  seems  a 
fair  inference,  therefore,  that  the  only  way  to  restore  the  depleted  rookeries  to  their 
former  condition  is  to  stop  taking  seals  at  sea,  and  not  only  in  Bering  Sea,  but  in 
the  North  Pacific  as  well. 

Having  been  selected  by  my  Government  solely  as  a  naturalist,  and  having  investi- 
gated the  facts  and  arrived  at  the  above  conclusions  and  recommendations  from  the 
standpoint  of  a  naturalist,  I  desire  to  know  if  you  agree  or  differ  with  me  in  consid- 
ering these  conclusions  and  recommendations  justified  and  necessitated  by  the  facts 
in  the  case. 

I  shall  be  greatly  obliged  if  you  will  favor  me  with  a  reply. 
Very  truly,  yours, 

C.  HART  MERRIAM. 


REPLIES   TO   C.   HART   MERRIAM. 
REPLY   OF   DR.    ALPHONSE   MILNE   EDWARDS. 

PARIS,  April  SO,  1892. 

SIR:  I  have  rend  with  great  interest  the  letter  you  addressed  me  with  reference  to 
the  fur  seals  of  Bering  Sea,  and  I  think  it  would  be  of  real  advantage  to  have  con- 
certed international  measures  so  as  to  insure  an  effective  protection  to  those  valuable 
animals. 

To-day  the  means  of  transportation  at  the  disposal  of  the  fishermen  are  so  great, 
the  processes  of  destruction  which  they  employ  are  so  improved,  tint  the  animal 
species,  the  object  of  tlieir  desire,  can  not  escape  them.  We  know  that  our  migra- 
tory birds  are  during  their  travels  exposed  to  a  real  war  of  extermination,  and  an 
Ornithological  international  commission  has  already  examined,  not  unprotitably,  all 
the  questions  relating  to  their  preservation. 

\Vould  it  not  be  possible  to  put  fur  seals  under  the  protection  of  the  navy  of 
•ivilized  nations? 

What  has  happened  in  the  Southern  Ocean  may  serve  as  a  warning  to  us. 

Less  than  a  century  ago  these  amphibia  existed  there  in  countless  herds.  In  1808, 
when  I-  aiming  visited  the  islands  of  South  Georgia,  one  ship  left  those  shores  carry- 
ing away  14,000  seal  skins  belonging  to  the  species  Arctoceplialus  australis.  He  him- 
self obtained  57,000  of  them,  and  lie  estimated  at  112,000  the  number  of  these  animals 
killed  during  the  few  weeks  the  sailors  spent  there  that  year. 

In  1822  Weddell  visits  these  islands,  and  he  estimates  at  1,200,000  the  number  of 
skins  obtained  in  that  locality.  The  same  year  320,000  fur  seals  were  killed  in  the 
South  Shetlands.  The  inevitable  consequences  of  this  slaughter  were  a  rapid 
decrease  in  the  number  of  these  animals.  So,  in  spite  of  the  measures  of  protection 
taken  during  the  last  lew  years  by  the  governor  of  the  Falkland  Islands,  these  seals  are 
still  very  rare,  and  the  naturalists  of  the  French  expedition  of  the  Roman  che  remained 
for  nearly  a  year  at  Tierra  del  Fuego  and  the  Falkland  Islands  without  being  able 
to  capture  a  single  specimen. 

It  is  a  source  of  wealth  which  is  now  exhausted. 

It  will  soon  be  thus  with  the  CaUorhinus  urn  him  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
it  is  time  to  insure  to  these  animals  a  security  which  may  allow  them  regular 
reproduction. 

I  have  followed  with  much  attention  the  investigation  which  has  been  made  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  011  this  subject.  The  reports  of  the  commis- 
sioners sent  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  have  made  known  to  naturalists  a  very  large 
number  of  facts  of  great  scientific  interest,  and  have  demonstrated  that  a  regulated 
system  of  killing  may  be  safely  applied  in  the  case  of  these  herds  of  seals  when 
there  is  a  superfluity  of  males.  What  might  be  called  a  tax  on  celibacy  was  applied 
in  this  way  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner,  and  the  indefinite  preservation  of  the 
species  would  have  been  assured  if  the  emigrants,  on  their  way  back  to  their  breed- 
ing places,  had  not  been  attacked  and  pursued  in  every  way. 

There  is,  then,  every  reason  to  turn  to  account  the  very  complete  information  which 
we  possess  on  the  conditions  of  fur-seal  life  in  order  to  prevent  their  annihilation, 
and  an  international  commission  can  alone  determine  the  rules,  from  which  the  fisher- 
men should  not  depart. 

Accept,  etc.,  A.  MILNE  EDWARDS, 

Director  of  the  Museum  of  Natural  History. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  87 

REPLY  OK  DK.  CARLOS  IlKIHi.  <>K  KUEXOS  AYKES. 

JUNE  4, 1892. 

SIR:  In  answer  to  your  circular  dated  April  2,  and  directed  to  Dr.  Hermann  Bur- 
meister,  I  regret  to  let  you  know  that  .same  died  shortly  before  the  transmission  of 
your  circular  by  D.  N.  Bertolette.  esq. 

Having  been  namud  director  of  the  national  museuiu  in  the  place  of  the  deceased, 
I  have  read  with  great  interest  your  report  and  conclusions  about  the  causes  of  the 
decrease  and  the  measures  necessary  for  the  restoration  and  permanent  preservation. 
of  the  seal  herd  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  in  Bering  Sea,  and  according  to  your  wish  I 
have  the  pleasure  to  let  yon  know  that  from  the  standpoint  of  a  naturalist  I  per- 
fectly agree  with  you  in  considering  your  conclusions  and  recommendations  justified 
and  necessitated  by  the  facts  stated  by  yon  as  a  result  of  your  special  investigation 
on  the  above-named  islands. 

Very  truly,  yours,  CARLOS  BKRG. 

REPLY  OF    PROF.  DR.  ALFRED   NEIIKING,  ROYAL   AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE   OF   BERLIN. 

BERLIN,  April  21, 1892. 
Mr.  C.  HART  MEKRIAM. 

I'nited  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C.: 

HIGHLY  KSTKFOIKD  SIR:  I  "have  carefully  read  and  considered  your  elaborate 
and  very  interesting  letter  of  the  2d  instant,  which  I  received  yesterday  through 
Mr.  John  Briiikerhotf. Jackson,  secretary  of  legation  of  the  North  American  legation 
in  this  city,  and,  in  reply,  I  send  yon  a  statement  of  my  views  with  regard  to  its 
conteutsv 

What  you  say  concern  ing  the  mode  of  life,  and  especially  the  annual  migrations  of 
the  fur  seal  (Cal  lot-hunts  ,trsinus),  whose  breeding  places  are  the  Pribilof  Islands,  is  so 
clear  and  convincing,  and  harrnonixes  so  perfectly  with  what  has  been  observed  by 
other  reliable  scientists,  that  I  fill  y  agree  with  your  deductions.  I  am.  like  your- 
self, of  the  opinion  th.it  the  remarkable  decrease  of  fur  seals  on  the  rookeries  of  the 
Pribilof  Islands,  which  has,  of  late  years,  become  more  and  more  evident,  is  to  be 
attributed  mainly,  or  perhaps  exclusively,  to  the  unreasonable  destruction  caused 
by  the  sealers  wbo  ply  their  avocation  in  the  open  sea.  The  only  rational  method 
of  taking  the  fur  seal,  and  the  only  one  that  is  not  likely  to  result  in  the  extermi- 
nation of  this  valuable  animal,  is  the  one  which  has  hitherto  been  employed  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands  under  the  supervision  of  the  Government.  Any  other  method  of 
taking  the  northern  fur  seal  should,  in  my  opinion,  be  prohibited  by  international 
agreement.  I  should,  at  furthest,  approve  a  local  pursuit  of  the  fur  seal,  where  it 
is  destructive  of  the  fisheries  in  its  southern  winter  quarters.  I  regard  pelagic  fur 
sealing  as  very  unwise;  it  must  soon  lead  to  a  decrease,  bordering  on  extermination 
of  the  fur  seal. 

With  great  respect,  Prof.  Dr.  ALFRED  NKHRING, 

Professor  of  Zoology  in  the  Royal  Agricultural  College  of  Berlin. 


REPLY   OF   PROF.  COUNT  TOMMA8O   SALVADORI. 

ZOOLOGICAL  MUSEUM,  Turin,  April  25, 1892. 
C.  HART  MEKRIAM, 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 

Division  of  Ornithology,  Washington,  D.  C. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  have  received  your  letter  concerning  the  northern  fur  seal,  on  the 
condition  of  which  you  have  been  selected  as  naturalist  to  investigate  and  report 
by  the  Government  of  the  United  Stales. 

As  a  whole  I  agree  with  you  as  to  the  facts  and  conclusions  drawn  on  your  report, 
although  the  increasing  number  of  seal  skins  actually  secured  and  sold,  as  a  result 
of  pelagic  sealing  shown  in  your  table,  does  not  sufficiently  prove,  in  my  mind,  that 
•we  are  already  in  the  period  of  a  decided  diminution  of  the  number  of  living  seals. 
Still,  I  quite  admit  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  adopt  some  measures  for  the 
preservation  of  the  seal  herds. 

No  doubt  the  free  pelagic  sealing  is  a  cause  which  will  act  to  the  destruction  of 
the  seal  herds,  and  to  that  it  must  be  put  a  stop  as  soon  as  possible.  But  at  the  same 
time  I  think  that  the  yearly  killing  of  about  100,000  young  males  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  must  have  some  influence  on  the,  diminution  of  the  herds,  especially  pre- 
venting the  natural  or  sexual  selection  of  the  stronger  males,  which  would  follow  if 
the  young  males  were  not  killed  in  such  a  great  number.  So  that,  with  the  stop- 
ping of  the  pelagic  sealing,  I  think,  at  least  for  a  few  years,  also  the  slaughter  of  so 
many  young  males  in  the  Pribilof  Islands  should  be  prohibited. 
I  remain,  very  truly,  yours, 

PROF.  T.  SALVADORI. 


88  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

RFI'I.Y   Ol     DR.    <:.    HARTF.A115. 

BKI:MKN.  April   ?;',  189:.'. 
Mr.  C.   HART  Mi  RRIAM. 

DFAR  SIR:  Your  excellent  report  on  tlie  northern  I'nr  seal  I  have  read  and  reread 
with  intense  interst. 

I  am  t'ar  from  attributing  to  myself  a  competent  judgment  regarding  tliis  matter, 
but  eon>idering  all  facts  which  yon  have  so  cle.irly  and  convincingly  combined  and 
expressed,  it  seems  to  me  thai,  the  measures  yon  propose  in  order  to  prohibit  the 
threatening  decay  of  the  northern  fur  seal  are  the  only  correct  ones  promising  an. 
effective  result. 

I  sincerely  regret  that  for  practical  reasons  it  can  not  be  thought  of  to  prohibit 
fur-seal  hunting  for  a  lew  years  entirely,  as  this  would  naturally  assist  numerically 
the  menaced  animal. 

There  is  at  any  rate  danger  in  view,  and  it  can  not  be  too  strongly  emphasized  that 
your  so  well  founded  proposal^  should  be  executed  at  the  earliest  time  possible. 

With  sincere  thanks  for  the  confidence  yon  have  placed  in  my  judgment.  I  am, 
dear  sir,  your  most  obedient. 

Dr.    (J.    IlARTLAl'H. 


REPLY  OF    I'ROF.    KOIIKHI    CnLLKTT,  OF  Till.   /OOLO<  i  I  i'A  I.  MTSF.I'M  "V  TIFF,    CXIVKRSITY 

OF    C1I1US1IAMA,    NORWAY. 

ClIKIsTIANIA,    April   2.J,    IS!).?. 

MY  DF.AR  Sin:  It  would  be,  a  very  easy  reply  to  your  highly  interesting  treatise 
of  the  fur  seal,  which  you  have  been  kind  enough  to  send  us,  when  I  only  answered 
yon  that  I  agree  with  you  entirely  in  all  points.  No  doubt  it  would  he  the  greatest 
value  for  the  rookeries  on  the  Prihilof  Islands,  as  well  as  for  the  preservation  of  the 
existence  of  the  seal,  if  it  would  be  possible  to  stop  the  sealing  at  sea  at.  all.  Hut 
that  will  no  doubt  lie  very  difficult  when  so  many  nations  partake  in  the,  sealing, 
and  how  that  is  to  go  about  I  can  not  know.  My  own  countrymen  are  killing  every 
year  many  thousands  of  seals.  Cjixto  phora1,  on  the  ice  barrier  between  Spit/.bergeu 
and  Greenland,  hut  never  females  with  young:  either  are  the  old  ones  caught  or — 
and  that  is  the  greatest  number — the  young  seals.  Hut  there  is  a  close  time,  accepted 
by  the  different  nations,  just  to  prohibit  the  killing  of  the  females  with  young. 
Perhaps  a  similar  close  time  could  be  accepted  in  the  Bering  Sea,  but  that  is  a  ques- 
tion about  which  I  can  not  have  any  opinion. 

Many  thanks  for  the  paper. 

Yours,  very  truly.  I\.  COLLKTT. 


RI.I'LY    OF    I.F.OPOLM    YON    S(  IIRKN<  K. 

ST.  PF.  rF.i;snri:<;.  April  /,'!/;.'>,  LW2. 

DI:AR  SIR:  Having  read  with  ea^er  and  critical  attention  the  memoir  you  have 
addressed  1o  me  upon  the  condition  of  the  fur-seal  rookeries  on  the  Pribilof  Islands 
in  Bering  Sea,  the  causes  of  decrease,  and  the  measure's  necessary  lor  the  restora- 
tion and  permanent  preservation  of  the  seal  herd,  1  can  not  bur,  completely  agree 
with  you  in  considering  tin;  conclusions  and  recommendations  yon  arrived  at  qnito 
justified  and  necessitated  by  t  he  facts.  1  am  also  persuaded  that  the  pelagic  sealing, 
if  pur>ned  in  the  same  manner  in  future,  will  necessarily  end  with  the  extermination 
of  the  fin-  seal. 

Very  truly,  yours. 

LF.OPOLD  VON   SniRi:.\<'K, 
Mimlnr  of  lltr  Impi-rlnl  Ara<l<-in</  of  Science*.  N/.   I'etc)'nburg. 


I  "IRFN/.I:,  1!»  VIA    KOMANA,  .!/<;//  .',  /,v.9?. 

Di;\i:  SIP.:  Years  ago.  in  November,  l^o'T.  I  had  the  ^ood  fortune  to  be  able  to 
visit  an  e\tensi\ .-  rookery  of  one  of  the  South  1'icilic  eaied  sea  Is.  t  he  \\  ell- known 
Otiirin  jiil'/iin.  \\  was  duriim  m\'  voNa^1'  round  the  world  on  the  Mdf/fula.  The 
rooker\  in  1 1  ue>t  ion  1  j.-s  j  n  -I  ln-h  ;  ud  (  'a  pe  Stokes  in  the  ( i  n  1 1  of  I  'en  as.  on  the  south- 
ern cosi-1  of  ('bile,  and  i>  the  one  seen  by  Darwin  during  his  memora  ide  \  oya-c,  in 
the,  limt/lr.  I  shall  never  forget  that  day.  when  m\  astonished  ga/e  rested  on  hun- 
dreds of  these,  eared  seals  l\in^r  about,  in  e\erv  attitude,  oi  repose,  on  the,  beach  and 


SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  89 

rocks  of  the  shore,  or  gracefully,  and  without  showing  the  slightest  fear,  performing 
the  most  acrobatic  evolutions  in  the  water  round  our  boat.  That  day  I  had  my  first 
experience  of  these  singular  creatures,  and  from  that  day  dates  the  special  interest 
I  have  ever  since  taken  in  the  study  of  the  life  history  of  the  Otariidw,  which  is  one 
of  the  most  marvelous  in  /oology. 

In  the  spring  of  1880,  while  commissioner  for  Italy  at  the  grand  "Fischerei- 
Ausstell  11114"  held  at  Berlin,  I  tirst  had  occasion  to  admire,  in  the  United  States 
exhibit,  the  beautiful  and  spirited  drawings  of  Henry  W.  Elliott.  I  have  since  then 
taken  a  keen  interest  in  the  wonderful  life  history  ol  the  North  Pacific  fur  seal  (Cat- 
lor  hi  HUH  ursinus),  as  best  exemplified  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  Later  on  I  have  care- 
fully read  and  commented  on  the  various  accounts  which  have  appeared  in  print  oil 
the  subject;  thus,  in.).  A.  Allen's  North  American  Pinnipeds,  Washington,  1880  (p. 
311'  et  seq.),  but  more  especially  the  detailed  and  graphic  descriptions  which  have 
been  published  by  Henry  \V.  Elliott  in  his  masterly  monograph,  The  Seal  Islands  of 
Alaska,  in  that  grand  work  by  G.  Brown  Goode  and  associates.  The  Fisheries  and 
Fishery  Industries  of  the  United  States  (vol.  1,  p.  75  et  seq.),  Washington,  1884,  and. 
again  ID  his  most  interesting  volume,  An  Arctic  Province,  Alaska  and  the  Seal 
Islands,  London,  1886. 

Alter  these  precedents  you  can  easily  imagine  how  great  an  interest  I  take  in  that 
"vexata  qua>stio,"  the  fur-seal  fishery  in  the  Bering  Sea;  with  what  pleasure  I 
received  through  the  United  States  Government  and  Mr.  Long,  the  United  States 
consul  in  this  city,  your  communication,  and  how  glad  I  am  of  the  opportunity  thus 
afforded  me  of  giving  my  unbiased  opinion  in  the  case  and  aiding  you  in  your  noble 
effort  to  preserve  from  litter  destruction  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  living  crea-< 
tures,  and  to  save  at  the  same  tiiue  a  most  valuable  source  of  human  industry  and 
profit. 

I  have  read  with  great  attention  your  condensed  but  very  complete  statement  of 
the  salient  points  regarding  the  life  history  of  the  North  Pacific  fur  seal  (Callorlnnus. 
ursinus}.  I  have  carefully  considered  the  results  of  your  investigation  upon  the  con- 
dition of  the  fur-seal  rookeries  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  your  conclusions  regarding 
the  cause  of  their  decrease,  and  the  measures  you  suggest  as  necessary  for  the  resto- 
ration and  permanent  preservation  of  the  seal  herd;  and  I  am  happy  to  state  that 
I  entirely  agree  with  you  on  all  points. 

The  first  and  most  important  point  for  consideration  is  evidently  the  cause  of  the 
unquestionable  decrease  ascertained  in  the  fur-seal  rookerii  s  on  the  Pribilof  Islands 
dining  the  few  past  years.  The  stringently  enforced  rules  which  strictly  limit  the 
killing  for  commercial  purposes  to  nonbreeding  males  or  holluschickies,  carefully 
selecced,  which  selection  can  only  be  made  on  land,  entirely  preclude  to  ray  mind 
the  suggestion  that  the  lamented*  decrease  may  be  attributed  in  any  degree  to  the 
killing  of  too  lar«ie  a  number  of  nonbreeding  males.  Such  a  decrease  might  have 
been  in  some  slight  measure  attributed  to  the  former  custom  of  killing  each  year  a 
O'l-tain  number  of  male  pups  to  furnish  food  for  the  natives,  but  that  practice  has 
been  wisely  prohibited.  Therefore,  I  feel  positive  that  the  notable  decrease  in  the 
number  of  fur  seals  resorting  to  the  rookeries  on  the  Kurile  Islands,  on  the  Rohben 
K'ef  (Saghalien),  and  more  especially  on  the  Commander  Islands,  as  being  in  the 
Bering  Sea, 

Having  conclusively  shown  that  the  lamented  decrease  in  the  herd  of  fur  seals 
resorting  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  can  in  no  way  be  accounted  tor  by  the  selective 
killing  of  noubreeding  males  for  commercial  purposes,  which  takes  place  on  those 
islands  under  special  rules  and  active  surveillance,  we  must  look  elsewhere  for  its 
cause,  and  I  can  see  it  nowhere  but  in  the  indiscriminate  slaughter,  principally  prac- 
ticed on  breeding  or  pregnant  females,  as  most  clearly  shown  in  your  condensed 
report,  by  pelagic  sealers. 

In  any  ca-e,  all  who  are  competent  in  the  matter  will  admit  that  no  method  of 
capture  could  be  more  uselessly  destructive  in  the  case  of  pinuipedia  than  that  called 
"  pelagic  sealing;  "  not  only  any  kind  of  selection  of  the  victims  is  impossible,  but  it 
is  admitting  much  to  assert  that  out  of  three  destroyed  one  is  secured  and  utilized, 
and  this  for  obvious  and  well-known  reasons.  In  the  case  of  the  North  Pacific  iur 
seal,  this  mode  of  capture  and  destruction  falls  nearly  exclusively  on  those — the  nurs- 
ing or  pregnant  females — which  ought  on  no  account  to  be  killed.  It  is  greatly  to  be 
deplored  that  any  civilized  nation  possessing  fishery  laws  and  regulations  should 
allow  such  indiscriminate  waste  and  destruction.  The  statistical  data  you  give  are 
painfully  eloquent,  and  when  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 62, 500  skins  secured 
by  pelagic  sealing  in  1891  represent  at  a  minimum  one-sixth  of  the  fur  seals  destroyed, 
viz,  375,000— that  is,  calculating  one  in  three  secured  and  each  of  the  three  suckling 
a  pup  or  big  with  young — we  most  undoubtedly  need  not  look  elsewhere  to  account 
for  the  rapid  decrease  in  the  rookeries  on  the  Pribilof  Islands;  and  I  quite  agree 
with  y«u  in  maintaining  that,  unless  the  malpractice  of  pelagic  sealing  be  prevented 
or  greatly  checked,  both  in  the  North  Pacific  and  in  the  Bering  Sea,  the  economic 
extermination  of  Callorhinus  ursinus  is  merely  the  matter  of  a  few  years. 


90  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

International  legislation  ought  to  intervene,  and  without  delay,  in  this  case  and 
suggest  the  means  of  possibly  preventing  or  at  least  considerably  limiting  the  pelagic 
capture  and  killing  of  the  northern  fur  seal— a  destructive  and  ultimately  fatal  indus- 
try, which  forcibly  recalls  the  well-known  fable  of  the  peasant  who  killed  the  hen 
which  laid  the  golden  eggs.  The  industry  derived  iroin  the  rational  killing  of  fur 
seals,  as  practiced  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  has  an  economic  value  which  extends  far 
beyond  the  limits,  though  vast,  of  the  United  States;  and  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  commercial  extermination  of  the  fur  seal  must  also  put  an  end  to  those 
industries  which  are  connected  with  the  preparation  of  the  much  valued  seal-skin  fur. 

It  is  hoth  as  a  naturalist  and  as  an  old  commissioner  of  fisheries  that  I  beg  to  say 
once  more  that  I  most  entirely  and  m«-st  emphatically  agree  with  you  in  the  conclu- 
sions and  recommendations  you  come  to  in  your  report  on  the  present  condition 
of  the  fur-seal  industry  in  the  Bering  Sea,  with  special  reference  to  the  causes  of 
decrease  and  the  measures  necessary  for  the  restoration  and  permanent  preservation 
of  that  industry,  which  conclusions  and  recommendations  are  fully  supported  and 
justified  by  the  facts  in  the  case. 

With  much  regard,  believe  me,  dear  sir,  very  truly,  yours, 

HKNRY  11.  (JiGLioi.i. 


REPLY   OF    DR.  RAPHAEL   BLANCIIARD. 

Dr.  C.  HART  MERRTAM, 

Jiureau,  of  Animal  Industry, 

Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. 

SIR  AND  HONORED  COLLEAGUE:  I  have  read  with  the  deepest  interest  the  learned 
memoir  which  you  have  done  me  the  honor  to  send  me  concerning  the  biological  his- 
tory of  the  fur  seal  (Callorliinus  ursitmn). 

The  very  precise  observations  which  you  made  at  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  the  no 
less  certain  information  based  on  official  statistics  which  you  give  on  the  subject  of 
the  capture  of  the  females  on  the  high  sea  at  the  moment  when  they  are  returning  to 
the  Pribilof  Islands  to  give  birth  to  their  young,  have  suggested  to  you  conclusions 
with  which  I  fully  agree. 

I  will  go  even  further  than  you.  for  I  think  it  urgent  not  only  to  rigidly  prohibit 
the  taking  of  the  migratory  Callorhinus  in  the  open  sea,  but  also  to  regulate  and  limit 
severely  the  hunting  on  land  of  males  still  too  young  to  have  a  harem. 

According  to  your  own  observation  the  male  does  not  pair  off  before  the-age  of  6 
or  7  years,  and  the  females  give  birth  to  only  one  pup  at,  a  time.  It  can  be  said  then 
that  the  species  increases  slowly  and  multiplies  with  difficulty.  These  are  unfavor- 
able conditions,  which  do  not  allow  it  to  repair  the  hecatombs  which  for  several 
years  past  have  been  and  are  decimating  the  species. 

By  reason  of  the  massacres  of  which  it  is  the  victim  this  species  is  advancing  rap- 
idly toward  its  total  and  final  destruction,  following  the  fatal  road  on  which  the 
Ithytina  stelleri,  the  Monachns  tropicaUs,  and  the  Macrork'mns  anfjimlirostris  have  pre- 
ceded it,  to  cite  only  the  great  mammifers  which  but  recently  abounded  in  the 
American  seas. 

Now.  the  irremediable  destruction  of  an  eminently  useful  animal  species,  such  as 
this  one,  is,  to  speak  plainly,  a  crime  of  which  we  are  rendering  ourselves  guilty 
toward  our  descendants.  To  satisfy  our  instincts  of  cupidity  we  voluntarily  exhaust, 
ftnd  that  forever,  a  source  of  wealth  which,  properly  regulated,  ought  on  the  con- 
trary to  contribute  to  the  prosperity  of  our  own  generation  and  of  those  which  will 
succeed  it. 

When  we  live  on  our  capital  we  can  undoubtedly  lead  a  gay  and  extravagant  life: 
but  how  long  does  this  foolish  extravagance  last?  And  what  is  its  to-morrow  f 
inextricable  poverty.  On  the  other  hand,  in  causing  our  capital  to  be  properly  pro- 
ductive we  draw  from  it  constantly  a  splendid  income,  which  does  not,  perhaps,  give 
the  large  means  dreamed  of,  but  at  least  assures  an  honorable  competency,  to  which 
the  wise  man  knows  how  to  accommodate  himself.  By  prucb  nt  ventures  or  by  a 
well-regulated  economy  he  can  even  increase  progressively  his  inheritance  and  leave 
to  his  children  a  greater  fortune  thau  he  had  himself  received  from  his  parents.  It 
is  evidently  the  same  with  the  question  which  occupies  us,  and  it  is  for  our  gener- 
ation an  imperious  duty  to  prevent  the  destruction  of  the  fur  seal,  to  regulate 
strictly  its  capture — in  a  word,  to  perpetuate  this  source  of  wealth  and  to  bequeath 
it  to  our  descendants. 

To  these  considerations  of  an  economic  character  I  will  add  another  of  a  nature 
purely  sentimental.  It  is  not  without  profound  sadness  that  the  naturalist  sees  a 
large  number  of  animal  species  disappear,  the  destruction  of  which  this  century  will 
Bave  seen  accomplished.  When  our  seas  are  no  longer  inhabited  by  the  cetacea  and 
the  great  pinnipeds,  when  the  air  is  no  longer  furrowed  in  all  directions  by  little 


SI;AL  LIFI:  ON  THE  PRIBILOF  ISLANDS.  91 

insectivorous  birds,  wh<»  knows  if  the  equilibrium  of  nature  will  not  be  broken — an 
equilibrium  to  which  the  creatures  on  the  way  to  extinction  have  greatly  contributed? 

\Yith  his  harpoons,  his  firearms,  and  bis  machines  of  every  kind,  man,  with  whom 
the  instinct  of  destruction  attains  its  highest  point,  is  the  most  cruel  enemy  of  nature 
and  of  mankind  itself. 

Happily,  while  yet  in  time,  the  savants  sound  tin- alarm.  In  this  century,  when 
we  believe  in  science,  we  must  hope  that  their  voice  will  not  be  lost  in  the  desert. 

Above  all,  I  have  the  conviction  that  the  very  wise  measures  which  you  propose 
with  the  view  of  preserving  the  Callorhinns  tirsinun  from  an  impending  destruction 
will  be  submitted  to  an  international  commission,  which  will  ratify  them  and  give 
them  the  force  ot  a  law. 

Will  you  accept,  sir  and  honored  colleague,  the  expression  of  my  most  distinguished 
sentiments. 

Dr.  RAPHAEL  BLANCHARD. 


RKfLY   OF    DR.  WILHELM    LILLJEBORG. 

STOCKHOLM,  May  14,  1892. 
Dr.  C.  HART  MKRRIAM. 

DEAR  SIR:  In  answer  to  your  letter  of  2d  of  April,  asking  our  opinion  as  to  the 
causes  of  the  decrease  of  the  stock  of  northern  fur  seals  (Callorhinus  nr*imi*)  on  the 
rookeries  of  the  islands  in  the  North  Pacitic  or  Bering  Sea,  and  concerning  the  means 
proposed  by  you  to  arrest  this  decrease,  allow  us  to  state  the  following: 

Your  description  of  the  life  of  the  northern  fur  seal  corresponds  generally  with 
similar  descriptions  by  former  authors,  from  the  celebrated  Dr.  Steller,  who  (1741-42) 
visited  the  Commander  Islands  with  Vitus  Bering,  to  our  dajs.  and  also  with  our  own 
personal  experiences  of  the  animal  life  in  the  Arctic  seas,  and  with  the  informations 
one  of  us  gathered  from  the  inhabitants  during  a  short  stay  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

W<-  do  not,  therefore,  hesitate  to  declare  that  the  facts  about  the  life  and  habits  of 
the  fur  seal  stated  by  you  in  your  said  letter  under  1-20  should  serve  as  a  base  ior 
the  regulations  necessary  to  preserve  this  gregarious  animal  from  its  threatened, 
extinction  in  a  comparatively  short  time. 

These  regulations  may  be  divided  into  two  categories,  viz:  (1)  Regulations  for  the 
ki  ling,  etc.,  of  the  fur  seals  on  the  rookeries,  in  order  to  prevent  the  gradual  diminu- 
tion of  the  stock;  (2)  regulations  for  the  pelagic  sealing,  or  for  the  hunting  of  the 
seals  swimming  in  the  ocean  in  large  herds  to  and  from  the  rookeries,  or  around  the 
rookeries  during  the  time  when  the  female's  are  suckling  the  pups  on  land. 

As  to  the  former  question,  the  killing  of  the  seals  on  the  rookeries,  it  seems  at 
present  regulated  in  a  suitable  manner  to  effectually  prevent  the  gradual  diminution 
of  the  stock.  If  a  wider  experience  should  require  some  modifications  in  these 
regulations,  there  is  no  danger  but  that  such  modifications  will  be  adopted.  It  is 
evidently  in  the  interest  of  the  owners  of  the  rookeries  to  take  care  that  this  source 
of  wealth  should  not  be  lessened  by  excessive  exploitation.  Nor  will  there  be  any  diffi- 
culty for  studying  the  conditions  lor  health  and  thriving  of  the  animals  during  the 
rookery  season. 

As  to  the  pelagic  sealing,  it  is  evident  that  a  systematic  hunting  of  the  seals  in  the 
open  sea  on  the  way  to  and  from  or  around  the  rookeries  will  very  soon  cause  the 
complete  extinction  of  this  valuable  and.  from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  extremely 
interesting  and  important  animal,  especially  as  a  great  number  of  the  animaLs  killed 
in  this  manner  are  pregnant  cows,  or  cows  temporarily  separated  Irom  their  pups 
while  seeking  food  in  the  vicinity  of  the  rookery.  Everyone  having  some  experi- 
ence in  seal  hunting  can  also  attest  that  only  a  relatively  small  part  of  the  seals 
killed  or  seriously  wounded  in  the  open  sea  can  in  this  manner  be  caught.  We  are 
therefore  persuaded  that  a  prohibition  of  pelagic  sealing  is  a  necessary  condition 
for  the  prevention  of  the  total  extermination  of  the  fur  seal. 

Very  truly,  yours,  W.  LILLJEBORG. 


REPLY   OF   DR.  A.  V.  MIDDENDORFF. 
Mr.  W.  WURTS. 

SIR:  My  delay  in  answering  your  letter  is  due  to  illness.  I  am  very  glad  that  the 
United  States  have  selected  so  competent  a  person  as  Dr.  Merriam  for* the  purpose  of 
Dining  the  causes  of  the  rapid  decrease  of  seals.  The  facts  of  the  case  have 
now  been  scientifically  explained,  so  that  they  may  bo  readily  understood  even  by 
an  unscientific  person.*  The  method  of  treating  these  animals  which  was  originally 
adopted  by  the  Russian  American  Company  at  their  h«»me  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  is 
still  continued  in  the  same  rational  manner,  and  has,  for  more  than  half  a  century 


92  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

been  found  to  be  excellent,  both  on  account  of  the  large  number  of  seals  taken,  and 
because  they  are  not  exterminated.  So  long  as  superfluous  young  males  only  are 
killed,  not  only  the  existence,  but  even  thr  increase  of  the  herd  is  assured. 

^eals  are,  unfortunately,  migratory  animal«,  and  set  out  on  their  journey  during 
the  winter  months.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  pregnant  females.  They  are  then 
hunted  with  constantly  increasing  rapacity,  and  are  killed  in  the  open  sea  by  free- 
booters from  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  evident  that  the  only  remedy  for  such  a 
state  of  things  can  be  afforded  by  international  protection. 

How  rapidly  extermination  progresses  is  shown  by  the  disappearances  of  millions 
of  bisons.  With  these,  however,  the  c;ise  is  quite  different,  since  their  destruction 
is  of  no  importance  in  an  economical  point  of  view.  Its  importance  is  merely  of  an 
esthetical  character,  and  from  this  standpoint  only  does  modern  civilization  demand 
the  preservation  of  two  specimen  herds,  numbering  a  few  hundred  head  each — one 
in  Lithuania  and  the  other  in  North  America.  Since  the  attempts  to  domesticate 
the  bison,  and  to  produce  a  cross  between  it  and  our  domestic  cattle  have  proved  a 
failure,  it  is  plain  that  the  ground  where  the  bison  formerly  grazed  can  be  more 
advantageously  occupied  and  yield  milk  abundantly. 

The  case  is  q'uite  otherwise  with  the  seal.  This  animal  is  of  economical  impor- 
tance, and  was  created  for  a  domestic  animal,  as  I  pointed  out  many  years  ago.  (See 
my  Siberian  Journey,  vol.  iv,  part  1,  p.  846.)  It  is  in  fact  the  most  useful  of  all 
domestic  animals,  since  it  requires  no  care  and  no  expense,  and  consequently  yields 
the  largest  net  profit.  If  we  suppose  the  seal  to  have  disappeared,  what  could  take 
its  place  as  converter  of  the  immense  supply  of  fish  in  the  ocean  into  choice  furs  to 
stock  the  markets  of  the  world? 

Bering  Island,  which  has  been  deserted  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  now 
stands  as  a  warning.  Has  modern  progress  succeeded  in  any  way  in  supplying  the 
place  of  the  seal  cow  (Rhylina  stelleri),  that  huge  monster  which,  as  a  consumer  of 
marine  plants,  was  intended  to  convert  useless  sea  weed  into  savory  meat? 

If  you  will  communicate  (as  you  say  you  propose  to  do)  the  contents  of  this  letter 
to  Dr.  Merriam,  whose  address  I  do  not  know,  you  will  oblige  me  greatly. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

Dr.  A.    V.    MlDDENDORFF. 


REPLY    OF   DR.  EMIL   HOLUB. 

PRAGUE,  May  18,  1892. 
Dr.  C.  H.  MERRIAM,  Esq. 

DKAR  SIR  :  With  sincere  attention  I  have  perused  the  records  of  your  investigation 
of  the  habits,  the  present  decrease,  and  regarding  the  future  of  the  fur  seal  (Citllor- 
hinus  ursinus  Gray).  Having  well  considered  the  matter,  I  will  pass  my  opinion 
•without  any  prejudice  whatever. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  may  be  congratulated  upon  the  action  taken 
in  having  sent  out  for  the  investigation  of  a  matter  which  falls  into  the  department 
of  the  board  of  trade  a  scientist,  and  in  this  special  case  a  man  wrho  has  taken  such 
great  pains  with  the  object  of  his  researches. 

Our  age  makes  it  a  duty  for  all  civilized  nations  to  bring  trade  and  commerce  in 
a  close  contact  with  science.  This  becomes  quite  a  necessity,  like  in  the  present 
case,  in  which  commercial  customs,  even  international  agreements,  laws,  etc.,  become 
insufficient  to  secure  a  sound  decision.  Such  scientific  investigations  can  supply  the 
desired  conclusions;  they  do  advice  the  measures  to  be  taken,  and  provide  the  basis 
upon  which  an  international  understanding  can  be  established. 

Regarding  the  object  of  your  researches,  I  indorse  your  opinion  that  the  decrease 
of  the  numbers  of  the  fur  seal  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  has  been  caused  by  pelagic 
sealing  in  the  North  Paciric  and  in  the  Bering  Sea,  and  that  this  taking  of  the  seals 
at  sea  has  to  be  stopped  as  early  as  possible. 

To  restore  in  time  the  numbers  of  former  years,  I  take  the  liberty  to  name  the  fol- 
lowing measures  for  the  sake  of  consideration  : 

A.  Concerning  certain  agreements  with  other  powers. 

(1)  A  mutual  understanding  upon  the  question  between  the  United  States,  Russia, 
and  Japan.     These  three  States  are  concerned  primo  loco  in  this  matter  as  being  the 
proprietors  of  the  breeding  places  as  well,  like  also  of  the  fishing  grounds  of  the 
said  animals  during  their  yearly  wanderings  to  and  fro. 

(2)  For  the  sake  of  brevity  in  action  and  a  speedy  settlement,  these  three  States 
(after  having  agreed  upon  the  foregoing)  to  select  but  one  representative. 

(3)  The  United  States  having  given  impulse  to  the  matter  to  gain  the  prestige, 
that  a  United  States  man  shall  be  selected  to  this  honor. 

(4)  A  congress  to  be  called  together,  invitations  to  be  sent  to  those  of  the  Euro- 
pean and  American  powers,  whose  subjects  indulge  in  pelagic  sealing  in  the  North 
Paciiic  and  the  Bering  Sea. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THK    PBIBILOF    ISLANDS.  93 

(5)  In  the  congress  the   representative  of  the  three  powers  to  have  six  voices, 
resulting  in  two  voices  for  every  one  of  these  powers,  which  concession  to  be  granted 
upon  the  facts  of  paragraph  1. 

(6)  The  congress  to  deal  \viili  the  stoppage  of  pelagic  sealing  of  the  fur  seal,  and 
possibly  to  come  to  an  understanding  upon  it  and  to  enforce  it. 

B.  Concerning  certain  laws  and  precautions  in  tliedominions  of  the  United  States. 

(1)  To  prohibit  taking  seals  nt  sea  by  home  vessels  and  by  small  boats  along  the 
coast  during  the  wanderings  of  the  animals.  1  think  that  a  great  many  fur  seals 
are  killed  on  their  way  to  the  south  and  their  return  to  their  breeding  places  in  the 
north  before  ever  they  do  reach  the  neighborhood  of  the  latter.  The  fact  that  these 
wandering  animals  are  chiefly  pregnant  females,  which  as  game  are  protected  by 
laws  among  all  civilixed  nations,  may  grant  them  safety  also  along  the  coasts  of 
British  Columbia. 


(2)  To  see  that  the  existing  laws  at  present  in  use  on  both  St.  Paul  and  St.  George 

5  protection  of  malt 

(3)  To  investigate  the  nutritious  necessities  of  the  fur  seal.     I  believe  that  the 


islands  regarding  the  protection  of  male  pups  are  strictly  observed. 


animals  feed,  besides  on  fish   and  crustaceans,  also  on  different  forms  of  mollusca, 
especially  on  mussels,  and  also  on  certain  seaweeds. 

(4)  In  ascertaining  the  foregoing,  to  try  to  increase  the  quantity  of  food  in  the 
sea  of  the  Pribilof  Islands,  especially  for  the  reason  that  females,  when  nursing, 
may  be  not  compelled  to  stray  as  far  as  100  to  150  miles  from  shore,  deserting  their 
pnps  for  so  long  and  being  also  exposed  to  the  weapons  of  the  pelagic  sealers. 

(5)  In  ascertaining  the  nutritious  necessities  to  pay  special  attention  to  mussels 
belonging  to  the  families  of  the  My  til  idee  and  Ji'iculidw  (to  the  genera  of  Mytilus, 
Modlula,  Lithodomis,  Pinna,  and  others),  who  have  thin  shells,  or  to  other  species  of 
the  North  Pacific,  which  would  promise  a  good  prolih'catiou  ;  further,  also,  to  certain 
seaweeds,  for  submarine  plantation,  the  species  to  which  I  allude  containing  a  great 
deal  of  eatable  gelatinous  matter. 

(6)  These  measures,  besides 'to  be  taken  from  economical  reasons  on  behalf  of 
borne  commerce  and  home  trade,  to  be  recommended  also  from  a  scientific  point 
of  view,  as  an  act  of  preservation  of  a  sea  mammal  and  from  the  common  laws  of 
humanity,  that  species  of  large  and  wild  living  mammal  may  be  guarded  against 
utter  annihilation 

Mankind,  never  to  forget  that,  being  the  master  among  the  living  creatures  on 
earth,  it  has  the  power  of  re  creation. 

If  the  pelagic  sealing  of  the  fur  seal  is  carried  on  still  longer,  like  it  has  been  exe- 
cuted during  the  last  years,  the  pelagic  sealing  as  a  business  matter  and  a  living 
will  soon  cease  by  the  full  extermination  of  the  useful  animal. 

The  objections  brought  forward  by  the  friend*  of  the  pelagic  sealing  against  its 
stoppage,  that  the  latter  will  ruin  a  great  many  families  of  seamen  and  fishers,  can 
not  be  taken  as  sound  arguments.  It  is  a  well-known  and  a  common  thing  in  our 
age,  but  a  weekly  occurrence  during  the  last  years,  that  a  new  trade  springing  up 
ruins  two  other  trades,  and  hardly  in  one  case  out  of  hundreds  can  a  compensation 
be  given  or  is  asked  tor. 

In  concluding  my  note,  I  thank  you,  my  dear  sir,  as  my  esteemed  fellow-worker  in 
another  transatlantic  sphere,  for  the  excellent  work  which  you  have  executed  during 
your  weary  investigations  in  the  Bering  Sea.  May  this  noble  and  important  work 
be  crowned  with  the  deserved  success  that  that  piratic  hunt  may  be  stopped  for- 
ever. The  opportunity  of  the  Columbian  Exhibition  in  Chicago  nitght  be  used  to 
call  the  congress  to  Washington,  and  then  to  give  to  the  delegates  the  treat  of  a 
visit  to  the  monstrous  exhibition. 

I  should  feel  very  happy  if  one  day  to  come  I  can  make  your  personal  acquaint- 
ance and  can  shake  hands  with  you,  my  dear  sir. 

With  my  humble  respects,  I  remain,  your  most  obedient, 

Dr.  EMIL  HOLUB. 


LETTERS  AND   STATEMENTS   OF  NATURALISTS. 
STATEMENT  BY  PROF.   T.   H.   HUXLEY. 

The  following  statement  by  Prof.  T.  H.  Huxley,  F.  K.  S.,  etc.,  the 
eminent  naturalist,  was  prepared  at  the  request  of  the  counsel  for  the 
United  States.  As  appears  from  the  statement  itself,  it  was  given  by 
Professor  Huxley  as  a  scientist,  not  as  a  retained  advocate: 

(1)  The  problem  of  the  fur-seal  fishery  appears  to  me  to  be  exactly  analogous  to 
that  which  is  presented  by  salmon  fisheries.  The  Pribilof  Islands  answer  to  the 
upper  waters  of  a  salmon  river;  the  Bering  Sea  south  of  them  and  the  waters  of  the 


94  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Northwest  Pacific  from  California  to  the  Shumagin  Islands  to  the  rest  of  the  course  of 
the  river,  its  estuary,  ami  adjacent  seucoast.  Theanimals  breed  in  the  former  and  feed 
in  the  latter,  migrating  at  regular  periods  from  the  one  to  the  other.  (The  question 
•whether  the  fur  seals  have  any  breeding  places  on  the  Northwest  Coast  outside  of 
Bering  Sea  may  be  left  open,  as  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  main  body  breeds 
at  the  Pribilofs.) 

(2)  An  important  difference  is  that  the  females,  bachelors,  and  yearling  fur  seals 
feed  largely  within  a  radi'is  of  say,  50  miles  of  the  ljribilof  Islands,  while  the  adult 
salmon  do  not  feed  (sensibly,  at  any  rate)  in  the  upper  waters. 

(3)  It  is  clear  in  the  case  of  fur  seals,  as  in  that  of  the  salmon,  that  man  is  an 
agent  of  destruction  of  very  great  potency,  probably  outweighing  all  others.     It 
would  be  possible  in  the  case  of  a  salmon  river  to  fish  it  in  such  a  fashion  that  every 
ascending  or  descending  fish  should  be  caught,  and  the  fishery  be  in  this  way  surely 
and  completely  destroyed.     All  our  salmon-fishery  legislation  is  directed  toward  the 
end  of  preserving  the  breeding  grounds  on  the  one  hand,  on  the  other  of  preventing 
the  lower- water  fishermen  from  capturing  too  large  a  proportion  of  the  ascending 
fish. 

(4)  Our  fishery  regulations  are  strict  and  minute.     Every  salmon  river  has  its 
fishery  board,  composed  of  representatives  of  both  the  upper  and  the  lower  water 
fisheries,  whose  business  it  is  to  make  by-laws  under  the  acts  of  Parliament  and  to 
see  that  they  are  carried  out.     A  Government  inspector  of  fisheries  looks  after  themj 
and  holds  inquiries  under  the  authority  of  the  home  secretary  in  case  of  disputes. 
On  the  whole,  the  system  works  well.     The  fisheries  of  rivers  which  have  been 
pretty  nearly  depopulated  have  been  restored,  and  the  yield  of  the  best  is  main- 
tained.    But  the  upper-water  and  lower-water  proprietors  are  everlastingly  at  war, 

.  each  vowing  that  the  other  is  ruining  the  fisheries,  and  the  inspector  has  large  oppor- 
tunities of  estimating  the  value  of  diametrically  opposite  assertions  about  matters 
of  fact. 

(5)  In  the  case  of  the  fur-seal  fisheries  the  destructive  agency  of  man  is  prepotent 
on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     It  is  obvious  that  the  seals  might  be  destroyed  and  driven 
away  completely  in  two  or  three  seasons.     Moreover,  as  the  number  of  bachelors  in 
any  given  season  is  easily  ascertained,  it  is  possible  to  keep  down  the  take  to  such 
a  percentage  as  shall  do  no  harm  to  the  stock.     The  conditions  for  efficient  regulation 
are  here  quite  ideal. 

(fi)  But  in  Bering  Sea  and  on  the  Northwest  coast  the  case  is  totally  altered.  In 
order  to  get  rid  «.f  all  complications,  let  it  be  supposed  that  western  North  America, 
from  Bering  Straits  to  California,  is  in  the  possession  of  one  power,  and  that  we  have 
only  to  consider  the  questions  of  the  regulations  which  that  power  should  make  and 
enforce  in  order  to  preserve  the  fur  seal  fisheries.  Suppose,  further,  that  the  author- 
ity of  that  power  extended  over  Bering  Sea  and  over  all  the  Northwest  Pacific  east 
of  a  line  drawn  from  the  Shumagin  Islands  to  California. 

Under  such  condition*  I  should  say,  looking  at  nothing  biit  the  preservation  of  the 
seals,  that  the  best  course  would  be  to  prohibit  the  taking  of  the  fur  seals  anywhere 
exeept  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  to  limit  the  take  to  such  percentage  as  experi- 
ence proved  to  be  consistent  with  the  preservation  of  a  good,  average  stock.  The 
furs  would  be  in  the  best  order,  the  waste  of  life  would  be  least,  and,  if  the  system 
were  honestly  worked,  there  could  be  no  danger  of  overfishiug. 

(7)  However,  since  northwest  America  does  not  belong  to  one  power,  and  since 
international  law  does  not  acknowledge  Bering  Sea  to  be  a  mare  clausum,  nor  rec- 
ognize the  jurisdiction  of  a  Riparian  power  beyond  the  3-mile  limit,  it  is  quite  clear 
that  this  ideal  arrangement  is  impracticable. 

The  cause  of  the  fur-seal  fisheries  is,  in  fact,  even  more  difficult  than  that  of  the 
salmon  fisheries  in  such  a  river  as  the  Rhine,  where  the  upper  waters  belong  to  one 
power  and  the  lower  to  another. 

(8)  The  Northwest  Pacific,  from  California  to  Shnmagin  at  any  rate,  is  open  to  all  the 
world,  and,  according  to  the  evidence,  the  seals  keep  mainly  outside  the  3-mile  limit. 
A  convention  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  (backed  by  a  number  of 
active  cruisers)  might  restrain  the  subjects  of  both.     But  what  about  ships  under 
another  flag? 

(9)  Moreover,  I  do  not  see  how  the  Canadians  could  be  reasonably  expected  to  give 
up  their  fishery  for  the  sake  of  preserving  the  Pribilof  fisheries,  in  which  they  have 
no  interest. 

(10)  If,  however,  it  is  admitted  that  the  Canadians  can  not  be  asked  to  give  up  their 
fisheries,  I  see  no  way  out  of  the  difficulty  except  one,  and  I  do  not  know  that  it  is 
practicable.     It  is  that  the  Pribilof,  Bering,  and  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  fisheries 
shall  be  considered  national  property  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  to  be  worked  by  a  joint  fishery  commission,  which  shall  have  power  to  make 
by-laws  under  the  terms  of  a  general  treaty,  to  which  I  suppose  other  powers  (who 
have  hardly  any  interest  in  the  matter)  could  be  got  to  agree. 

(11)  I  am  free  to  confess  that  my  experience  of  the  proceedings  of  fishery  boards 
does  not  encourage  me  to  hope  that  the  proceedings  of  such  a  commission  would  be 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PUIIJILOF    ISLANDS.  95 

altogether  harmonious;  'nit  if  it  were  composed  of  sensible  men  they  would,  sooner 
or  later,  struggle  out  into  a  modus  vivendi.  tor.  after  all,  it  is  as  ruiich  the  Canadian 
interest  that  the.  I'rihilof  fisheries  should  be  preserved  as  it  is  the  United  States  inter- 
est that  the  seals  should  not  he  extirpated  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  Northwest  Pacific. 

(12)  In  such  a  case  as  this  I  do  nor  believe  that  the  enforcement  of  a  close  time, 
either  in    Bering  Sea  or  on  the  Northwest  coast,  would  he  of  any  practical  utility 
unless  the  fishing  is  absolutely  prohibited  (which  I  take  to  he  out  of  the  question). 
It  must   be  permitted  while  the  seals  are  in  the  sea;  and  if  it  is  permitted,  there  is 
no  limit  to  the  destruction  which  may  be  effected. 

Numerous  as  the  seals  may  be,  they  area  trille  compared  with  herring  schools  and 
cod  walls,  and  human  agency  is  relatively  a  far  more  important  factor  in  destruction 
in  their  case  than  in  that  of  herrings  and  cod.  tip  to  this  time  fishing  has  made  no 
sensible  impression  on  the  great  herring  and  cod  fisheries;  but  it  has  been  easy  to 
extirpate  seal  fisheries. 

(13)  Finally,   I  venture  to  remark  that  there  are  only  two  alternative  courses 
worth  pursuing. 

One  is  to  let  the  fur  seals  be  extirpated.  Mankind  will  not  suffer  much  if  the 
ladies  are  obliged  to  do  without  seal-skin  jackets,  and  the  fraction  of  the  English, 
Canadian,  au«t  American  population  which  lives  on  the  seal  skin  industry  will  be  no 
worse  on"  than  the  vastly  gi eater  multitude  who  have  had  to  suffer  for  the  vagaries 
of  lashion  times  out  of  number.  Certainly,  if  the  seals  are  to  be  a  source  of  constant 
bickering  between  two  nations,  the  sooner  they  are  abolished  the  better. 

The  other  course  is  to  tread  clown  all  merely  personal  and  trade  interest  in  pursuit 
of  an  a  IT  ngement  that  will  work  and  be  fair  all  round,  and  to  sink  all  the  stupidi- 
ties of  national  vanity  and  political  sell-seeking  along  with  them. 

There  is  a  great  deal  too  much  of  all  these  undeniable  elements  apparent  in  the 
documents  which  I  have  been  studying. 

T.  H.  HUXLEY. 

APKIL  25,  1892. 


AFFIDAVIT   BY   DR.    PHILIP   LUTLEY   SCLATER. 

Philip  Lutley  Sclater,  Ph.  D.,  secretary  of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London,  being 
duly  sworn,  doth  depose  and  say  that  in  his  opinion  as  a  naturalist: 

(1)  Unless  proper  measures  are  laken  to  restrict  the  indiscriminate  eaptnre  of  the 
fur  seal  in  the  North  Pacific  he  is  of  opinion  that  the  extermination  of  this  species 
will  take  place  in  a  few  years,  as  it  has  already  done  in  the  case  of  other  species  of 
the  same  group  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 

(2)  It  seems  to  him  that  the  proper  way  of  proceeding  would  be  to  stop  the  kill- 
ing of  females  and  young  of  the  fur  seal  altogether  or  as  far  as  possible,  and  to 
restrict  the  killing  of  the  males  to  a  certain  number  in  each  year. 

(3)  The  only  way  he  can  imagine  by  which  these  rules  could  be  carried  out  is  by 
the  killing  the  seals  only  in  the  islands  at  the  breeding  time  (at  which  time  it 
appears  that  the  young  males  keep  apart  from  the  females  and  old  males)  and  by 
preventing  altogether,  as  far  as  possible,  the  destruction  of  the  fur  seals  at  all  other 
times  and  in  other  places. 

PHILIP  LUTLEY  SCLATER,  Ph.  D.,  F.  E.  S. 


CITY  OF  WASHINGTON,  District  of  Columbia,  ss: 

C.  H.  Townsend,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says; 

I  am  33  jears  of  age.  and  my  profession  is  th«it  of  a  naturalist.  I  am  attached  to 
the  United  States  Fish  Commission  steamer  Albatross,  with  which  Commission  I  have 
been  connected  for  nine  years.  Occupying  the  position  of  resident  naturalist  on  that 
v<  ssel,  as  I  did,  I  have  collected  constantly  during  this  period  and  have  hunted  with 
all  kinds  of  firearms  and  under  various  conditions.  I  have  made  seven  voyages  to 
Alaska. 

I  visited  the  Pribilof  Islands  for  the  first  time  in  1885,  spending  the  months  of  June 
and  September  thereon  in  making  collections  of  natural-history  specimens,  includ- 
ing those,  of  the  fur  seal,  of  which  I  brought  down  twenty.  In  the  year  1891  1  again 
visited  the  Island  of  St.  Paul,  arriving  there  July  28  and  remaining  there  about  ten 
days.  The  British  commissioners  were  on  the  island  at  that.  time.  I  made  frequent 
observations  as  to  the  conditions  of  the  rookeries  during  this  period.  Early  in  the 
summer  of  1892  I  visited,  at  the  request  of  the  United  States  Government,  Guade- 
lope  Island,  for  the  purpose  of  acquainting  myself  with  seal  life  there  and  of  obtainr 
ing  skulls  of  the  fur  seals  which  formerly  frequented  those  regions.  Later  in  1892  J 
once  more  visited  the  Island  of  St.  Paul,  arriving  there  June  30.  I  was  there  on  the 


96  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

island  and  on  the  United  States  Revenue  steamer  Corwin,  cruising  to  the  west  of  the 
islands,  continuously  until  about  August  15,  and  was  engaged  during  all  of  this 
time  in  the  stuily  of  seal  lile,  either  on  land  or  in  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea,  and  have 
shot  seals  from  a  small  boat. 

I  carefully  noted  the  fact  this  year  that  the  young  seal  is  at  birth  attached  to  a 
large  placenta,  equal  parts  to  one-third  of  its  weight  and  of  a  bright  red  color.  It 
is  sometimes  not  expelled  until  an  hour  or  so  after  birth,  remaining  attached  in  the 
meanwhile  by  the  umbilical  cord  to  the  pup.  It  frequently  remains  attached  to  the 
pup  a  day  or  more.  After  parturition  the  female  takes  an  immediate  interest  in  her 
yonug,  and  if  it  has  fallen  into  some  slight  rock  crevice  she  gently  draws  it  toward 
her,  taking  its  nape  in  her  teeth.  She  repeatedly  turns  to  it  with  manifestation  of 
affection. 

Prior  to  July  27,  1892,  many  of  the  females  had  taken  to  water  to  feed  and  could 
thereafter  be  seen  returning  at  all  times  to  suckle  their  young.  I  quote  the  follow- 
ing written  memorandum  made  by  me  on  St.  Paul  at  that  date:  "Bulls  on  rookeries 
getting  exhausted  and  quiet,  mostly  sleeping.  Cows  largely  at  sea.  Some  bulls  have 
hauled  out  on  sand  beaches  that  so  far  have  been  bare.  Four-fifths  of  the  seals  on 
rookeries  to-day  are  pups." 

July  28  I  made  the  following  note:  "Many  females  coming  from  the  water  bleating 
for  their  young." 

I  have  killed  sea  lions  at  the  following  localities,  where  they  breed  in  considerable 
numbers,  and  found  their  breeding  ground  impregnated  with  the  same  rank,  dis- 
agreeable smell  that  is  so  noticeable  a  feature  of  the  breeding  grounds  of  the  Pribilof 
fur  seal:  Light-house  Rock,  Alaska  Peninsula,  Farallon  Islands,  and  Monterey  Rock, 
California;  San  Benito  Islands,  Lower  California,  and  San  Luis  Islands,  in  the  Gulf  of 
California.  The  soil  and  rocks  at  these  places  is  as  foul  with  seal  excrement  as  at 
the  Pribilofs,  where  urine,  excrement,  decaying  placentas,  and  other  filih  rubbed 
and  trodden  into  the  soil  and  rock  depressions  cause  the  odors  so  characteristic  of 
this  vicinity.  The  rocks  at  Monterey  may  be  used  in  illustration:  They  lie  near 
Cypress  Point,  400  or  500  yards  off  the  shore,  which  the  carriage  drive  follows,  and 
are  covered  with  hair  seals,  which  breed  there.  They  are  conspicuously  stained 
with  excrement,  and  where  the  animals  lie  thickest  the  ground  is  smeared  and  slip- 
pery with  it.  I  collet-ted  sea  lions  there  in  January  of  the  present  year,  and  after 
my  "shooting  had  frightened  all  the  animals  off  to  the  sea  the  rank  smell  of  the  place 
itself  drifted  arross  the  channel  into  the  nostrils  of  the  tourists  of  the  Hotel  del 
Monte,  who  witnessed  our  operations.  It  would  indeed  be  an  extraordinary  occur- 
rence if  fur  seals  did  not  deposit  excrement  upon  their  breeding  grounds  in  the  same 
way  that  all  other  animals  of  this  cla^s  do. 

As  already  stated  above,  I  was  attached  to  the  steamer  Corwhi  during  the  past 
summer,  and  I  made  all  the  examinations  of  the  stomachs  of  the  seals  referred  to 
in  Captain  Hooper's  report,  covering,  in  all,  33  seals.  1  annex  hereto  photographs 
of  two  of  the  seals  which  were  dissected  and  examined  by  me  on  the  deck  of  the 
steamer  Corwin.  These  seals  were  taken  on  the  2d  day  of  August,  1892,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  about  175  miles  from  the  islands.  The  photographs  exhibit  the  mammary 
glands  and  convey  a  good  idea  of  the  considerable  size  of  these  glands,  which  in  all 
cases  were  filled  with  milk.  The  inference  is  unavoidable  that  the  pup  is  a  vora- 
cious feeder,  and  this  inference  is  in  keeping  with  the  observations  I  have  made  on 
the  rookeries,  where  I  have  repeatedly  seen  pups  suckle  for  half  an  hour  at  a  time. 
The  mammary  gland  is  very  widely  spread  over  the  lower  surface  of  the  animal ; 
beginning  between  the  fore  flippers,  in  fact  at  the  anterior  of  the  sternum,  it  extends 
well  up  under  the  armpits  and  back  lo  the  pubic  bones.  The  milk  glands  are  quite 
thick  and  completely  charged  with  milk.  The  photographs,  especially  the  first  one, 
exhibit  the  milk  streaming  from  the  glands  on  to  the  deck. 

Annexed  to  the  report  <>f  Captain  Hooper  is  a  table  giving  the  results  of  the  exam- 
ination of  41  seals  which  were  killed  in  Bering  Sea  in  1892.  It  appears  that  of  this 
number  22  were  nursing  seals.  The  photographs  hereto  annexed  show  exactly  the 
way  all  of  tlu-se  nursing  female  seals  looked  when  cut  open  on  the  deck  of  the  Corwin. 

From  the  fact  that  among  the  females  thus  taken  and  examined  there  were  found 
mostly  nursing  cows,  with  a  small  number  of  virgin  cows,  it  is  reasonable  to  con- 
clnde'that  there  are  practically  no  barren  females  swimming  about  in  the  sea  unat- 
tached to  the  islands,  or  that,  at  any  rate,  if  such  seuls  exist  they  are  rarely,  if  ever, 
taken.  In  all  my  experience  I  have  never  seen  anything  to  lead  me  to  the  conclusion 
that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  barren  female.  In'the  case  of  the  virgin  cows,  a  care- 
ful examination  of  the. uterus  proved  them  to  be  too  immature  for  conception. 

In  the  stomachs  of  many  of  the  seals  examined  as  above  stated  there  were  found 
large  quantities  of  fi&h,  nminly  codfish.  There  is  nothing  surprising  in  this  fact,  that 
codfish  should  be  found  in  the  stomachs  of  surface  feeders  such  as  seals  are.  While 
taken  at  the  bottom,  the  codfish  is  not  restricted  to  deep  water.  It  is  found  from  the 
shallows  along  the  shore  out  to  the  banks  where  fishermen  usually  take  them.  They 
are  often  taken  at  intermediate  depths,  but  fish  taken  at  the  bottom  are,  as  a  rule, 
larger. 


SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  97 

The  cod  is  a  voracious  feeder  upon  squid,  which  abound  at  the  surface.  In  Alaskan 
waters  I  have  taken  hundreds  with  the  dip  net,  after  attracting  them  with  the  elec- 
tric light  of  the  Albatross.  In  its  frequent  migrations  from  bank  to  bank  the  cod 
passes  over  tracks  of  ocean  where  the  water  is  of  profound  depth.  It  is  a  regular 
feeder  upon  herring  and  many  other  fishes  which  school  at  the  surface,  and  in 
Alaskan  waters  frequently  follows  the  fisherman's  bate  from  the  bottom  to  the  sur- 
face. 

As  a  result  of  my  combined  observations  upon  land  and  water,  as  hereinbefore 
detailed,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  stating  positively  that  soon  after  a  female  gives 
birth  to  her  young  she  leaves  the  island  in  quest  of  food,  that  she  travels  great  dis- 
tances in  search  of  it,  and  that  she  returns  to  the  islands  heavily  laden  with  milk. 

While  hunting  in  the  Corwin'a  boat  many  seals  were  fired  upon  when  asleep.  They 
usually  sleep  with  their  head  to  leeward  and  keep  it  moving  uneasily  from  side  to 
side,  but  with  the  nose  held  clear  of  the  water.  A  sleeping  seal  has  his  vital  parts 
pretty  well  submerged — the  nose,  lower  jaw,  and  flippers  being  usually  held  above 
the  surface,  although  a  little  more  appears  at  times  according  to  the  condition  of  the 
sea  and  the  movements  of  the  animal. 

One  has  to  be  very  close  to  get  a  shot  at  the  head  that  will  kill  it.  Many  times 
the  animal  is  wounded  sufficiently  to  get  out  of  reach  of  the  hunter  before  it  dies. 
I  had  very  little  difficulty  in  approaching  sleeping  seals  close  enough  for  a  fair  shot, 
but  much'  in  killing  them.  Fair  shots  that  scattered  the  charge  all  about  them,  hit- 
ting the  flippers,  I  firmly  believe,  and  in  some  cases  drawing  plenty  of  blood,  were 
usually  without  result,  until  I  learned  to  fire  directly  at  the  head/  Then  the  shots 
began 'to  prove  fatal;  but  even  then,  unless  hit  in  a  vital  part,  the  animals  got  away, 
though  bleeding  freely.  A.t  first  I  blamed  the  ineffectual  firing  on  the  cartridges,  but 
the  cartridges  proved  all  right  as  soon  as  I  learned  to  aim  at  the  head  and  not  at  the 
animal  as  a  whole. 

I  learned  after  some  experiments  that  seals  which  dashed  away  apparently  unin- 
jured were  usually  hurt,  and  after  following  them  persistently,  at  great  labor  to  the 
boat  pullers,  found  that  they  were  bleeding. 

I  believe  that  the  majority  of  sleeping  seals  fired  at  are  struck.  The  number  killed 
at  the  islands  with  buckshot  in  them  bears  out  this  claim  to  a  considerable  extent. 
I  do  not  see  how  an  ordinary  marksman  can  shoot  at  so  large  a  target  as  a  seal  at 
short  range  with  a  double- barrel  gun  loaded  with  21  buckshot  without  striking  some 
of  the  exposed  portions  of  the  animal. 

It  is  from  the  instantly  killed  that  seals  are  secured;  the  wounded  animal  uses  its 
death  struggle  to  get  out  of  reach.  What  proportion  of  the  seals  reaching  the 
Pribilofs  with  shot  in  them  bear  to  those  which  are  fired  at  and  escape  (wounded,  as 
I  state  above)  is  not  known,  but  I  believe  that  fully  as  many  perish  leaving  no  trace, 
as  recover  sufficiently  to  reach  the  islands. 

Feeding  seals  shot  when  raising  their  heads  about  the  boats  from  curiosity  are 
more  likely  to  be  killed  instantly  than  sleeping  seals,  but  they  sink  more  quickly. 
A  clear  shot  at  the  head  is  afforded  which  knocks  the  life  completely  out  of  them, 
and  the  rest  of  the  body  being  under  water  at  the  time  it  would  seem  that  the 
pressure  upon  the  limp  body  forces  the  air  from  it.  As  a  rule,  seals  killed  instantly, 
when  the  head  is  entirely  clear  of  the  water,  go  down  quickly,  sinking  stern  fore- 
most. Sleeping  seals  killed  when  the  head  is  low  in  the  water  float  for  a  time,  tfce 
head  settling  into  the  water  first,  the  air  is  retained  in  the  body  and  it  floats.  I  shot 
a  seal  off  Quadeloupe  Island  in  May  when  it  raised  its  head  close  to  the  boat,  killing 
it  instantly.  It  sank  before  we  could  reach  it  with  the  gaff,  and  continued  sinking, 
stern  first,  as  we  could  plainly  see  far  below  in  the  clear  water. 

Another  illustration  of  the  wastefulness  of  the  pelagic  sealing  might  be  found  in 
the  number  of  cartridges  expended.  During  the  work  of  the  Corwin  no  record  of 
this  kind  was  kept.  The  hunter  usually  carried  two  or  three  dozen  cartridges, 
which  were,  as  a  rule,  expended  before  they  returned  to  the  ship.  The  number  of 
seals  lost  by  sinking,  number  wounded,  and  number  secured  were  recorded. 

Repeated  firing  from  the  boats  was  often  heard  on  board  ship,  and  a  large  number 
of  empty  shells  would  be  returned,  when  comparatively  few  seals  were  definitely 
reported  as  secured,  lost,  or  wounded,  all  other  shots  being  supposed  to  be  misses. 
I  do  not  think  this  feature  has  received  proper  consideration.  The  hunters  were 
certainly  average  marksmen,  and  it  is  my  belief  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
Bleeping  seals  tired  at  were  struck.  The  guns  used  were  10-bore  Parkers,  loaded 
with  21  buckshot.  Time  after  time  I  have  seen  the  heavy  charge  strike  about  the 
sleeping  seal  fully  expecting  to  see  it  killed,  when,  to  my  utter  surprise,  it  would 
dive  and  come  up  beyond  our  reach.  It  is  incredible  that  the  great  number  of  seals 
thus  escaping  were  uninjured.  How  can  one  always  find  traces  of  blood  or  signs  of 
injury  when  the  frightened  animal  is  retreating  at  a  rate  so  rapid  that  it  is  soon  out 
of  sight,  and  especially  as  its  course  is  mainly  under  water  and  it  only  appears  at 
the  surface  with  a  porpoise-like  leap  to  catch  its  breath  and  then  dives  again  f 

C.   H.  TOWNSEND. 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 7 


98  SF.AI.     LIFK    <)N    THK     PRIKII.nF     ISLANDS. 

AI)1>ITI<  'N  AL    TESTIMONY. 

Tin-  forcju'oiiijn'  testimony  is  that  of  scientists  whose  knowledge  of  the 
subject  under  discussion  can  not  well  !>e  questioned.  Speak  in  u1  for 
niyseir.  personally.  I  am  pleased  to  find  my  own  conclusions  based  on 
a  practical  knowledge  solely  so  fully  indorsed  by  learned  and  disinter- 
ested men. 

In  addition  to  the  testimony  already  quoted,  however,  and  in  order 
to  strengthen  the  position  taken,  I  append  to  my  ivpoi  t  the  testimony 
of  statesmen,  jurists.  scientists,  naturalists,  shipmasters,  sealers,  seal 
hunters,  pelagic  sealers,  naval  officers  (American  and  r.ritish  .  mer- 
cliantmeii.  seamen.  Indian  hunters,  native  sealers.  Treasury  agents, 
company  agents,  llritish  and  Amerieaii  lieiin^  Sea  (Commissioners,  fur 
traders,  t'unie.s.  I'ur  experts,  customs  officers,  and  men  of  all  classes, 
native  and  foreign,  friends  and  enemies,  who  have  had  either  the  prac- 
tical experience,  the  general  information,  or  the  scientific  knowledge  to 
warrant  them  in  making  sworn  .•statements  on  the  subject  at  issue:  and 
a  careful  reading  of  the  lest  i  nun  iv  introduced  will  show  that  their  views 
in  general  are  in  acco:d  with  mine,  and  sustain  my  position  in  every 
particular. 

The  quotations  above  referred  to  are  taken  from  the  American  case 
and  counter  case. 


So  much  has  already  been  said  in  contradiction  of  the  theories 
advance*]  by  honest  luit  mistaken  men  about  overdriving  of  the  youn<^ 
males  and  its  consequent  result  of  i  in  potency,  of  stampedes  on  the  rook- 
eries, and  epidemics  in  the  herd,  by  which  so  many  pups  were  Mipposed 
to  be  destroyed  annually  during  the  past  decade,  it  is  necessary  for  a 
correct  understanding  ol' the  contention  that  !  1:0  back  a  few  years  and 
uive  a  sketch  of  the  causes  which  j»-avc  rise  to  such,  until  t  hen.  unheard 
of  t  h-'ories  which  have  been  the  direct  cause  of  more  than  one  halt  the 
troubles  jn'rowiiijn' out  of  the  fur-seal  question  in  ileiin^'  Sea. 

As  already  shown  by  the  testimony  of  Messrs.  II.  11.  Mdntyrc.  T.  F. 
Morgan.  Daniel  Webster.  J.<  .  K'edpath.  Dr.  Noves.  and  others  who 
\\'ere  on  the  seal  islands  for  many  \ears.  it  was  not  until  iSSil  the  first 
unmistakable  decrease  of  the  seal  herd  \\asapparent.  Mad  the  facts 
been  reported  immediately  to  the  Department  and  the  true  cause  of 
>uch  a  sudden  shrinkage  shown,  steps  niiu'nt  ha\'e  been  taken  which 
would  have  prevented  furl  her  pelagic  sealing1,  or  at  least  an  addition  to 
I  he  sealing  iieet  :  but  unfortunately  an  over/ealous  Treasury  aireut 
reported  an  increase  of  nearlv  L'.OOU.uuo  since  Klliott's  measurements 
and  estimates,  some  fourteen  years  earlier:  and  au'ain.  in  isss.  he  tells 

the    I  >epal  tlliellt  : 

I  :im  happx  to  lie  aide  in  report  that  although  late  landing  tin-  hrccdiim  nmkrrit's 
:iri'  lil!i-il  HIM  ID  iln-  liiirs  <>l  iiicii-iin-niciil  licn-i  nl'urc  ni;nlc.  ;iud  xmif  ul'  llinn  much 
IM-VOMI!  ihnsc  lin.-.  showing  roiirl  lisi  vHy  that  sc;il  lil'c  i-  iml  litMii"'  <lcpl«-lrd.  hut  is 
1'iiJl  y  up  tn  tin-  >  stimuli's  -i  \TII  in  my  i-«-pnrt  of  Iss7.  ,  1,'cjM.rt  of  <  •.  K'.  '1'iii^lc.  ISSS.  i 

\\  hen  that  repo:l  \\as  written,  and  before  it  was  written,  everyone 
on  the  seal  inlands  knew  there  were  indications  of  a  decrease  of  the 
seal  herd,  and  the  employees  of  the  lessees  so  reported  at  the  time  to 
the  superintendent.  Dr.  II.  II.  Mdntyre.  who  tells  us: 

I  P-pi-Mtrilh  |mitiir<]  mil  t  n  i  >u  r  <•<  mi  pun  \  jiiid  to  i  hr  special  Treasury  a.ui-nts  during 
tin-  seasons  <i|  ]ss7.  Isss.  unil  ls>|i  tlial  (lie  seal'-  \\ere  rapidlx  d  im  i  nish  i  uu.  and  that 
in  order  to  u<-t  Ih.-  full  .|iiota  allo\\n|  ],\  la\v  \\  e  \\t-rt-  oldl-rd  to  kill,  in  increasing 
iiuiiiliei'-  in  each  ol  those  \eal'-,  animals  thai  should  have  heeii  allowed  to  attain 
greater  si/e  :  and.  linally,  the  eat  eh  of  iss'.i  \\  as  most  1  y  of  t  his  class,  i  Set?  Me]  n  tyro 
to.I«-!liics7  I  (rccmhci  1.",.  ISMII.  A  ppcndix.  i 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PR1BILOF    ISLANDS.  99 

Mr.  Daniel  Webster,  the  oldest  and  one  of  the  most  reliable  and  prac- 
tical of  sealers,  tells,  under  oath: 

In  1884  and  18X5  I  noticed  a  decrease,  and  it  became  so  marked  in  1886  that  every- 
one on  the  islands  saw  it.  This  marked  decrease  in  1886  showed  itself  on  all  the  rook- 
eries on  both  islands.  (See  affidavit  in  Appendix.) 

And  Mi.  ,!.('.  I  led  path,  the  local  agent  for  tlie  lessees,  after  an  expe- 
rience of  twenty  years  on  the  islands,  says: 

As  the  schooners  (pelagic  hunters)  increased,  the  seals  decreased,  and  the  lines  of 
contraction  on  the  rookeries  were  noticed  to  draw  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  beach, 
and  the  killable  seals  became  fewer  in  numbers  and  harder  to  h'nd.  In  1886  the 
decrease  was  so  plain  that  the  natives  and  all  the  agents  were  startled.  (Ibid.) 

• 

In  1881)  tlie  usual  annual  quota  of  100,01)0  could  not  be  found  without 
taking  50,000  young  seals  whose  skins  did  not  average  more  than  4 
pounds  each. 

It  was  then  that  the  apparent  and  appalling  suddenness  of  the 
decrease  aroused  in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  neither  practical 
sealers  nor  had  definite  knowledge  of  seal  life  on  the  rookeries  doubts 
as  to  the  true  cause  of  the  decrease,  and  of  the  actual  conditions  exist- 
ing on  the  seal  islands  so  soon  after  an  official  report  had  appeared 
affirming;  the  fact  of  an  increase  of  over  2,000,000  seals  in  fourteen  years. 

Theories,  as  numerous  as  the  men  who  broached  them,  were  launched 
forth  to  a  still  doubting  world;  from  press  and  platform  came  an  array 
of  argument  and  statistics  as  erroneous  as  they  were  bewildering;  and 
when  the  Treasury  agent's  reports  reached  the  Department  it  was 
decided  to  send  an  extra  special  agent  to  the  islands  to  thoroughly 
investigate  the  conditions  existing  there  and  if  possible  to  tind  the 
cause  of  the  sudden  decrease  of  the  fur-seal  herd;  and  Mr.  Henry  W. 
Elliott  was  selected  for  that  important  work. 

When,  in  1890,  Mr.  Elliott  reached  the  seal  islands  after  an  absence 
of  fourteen  years,  and  found  only  a  scant  one  fifth  of  the  seals  that  he 
saw  there  in  1870,  he  impulsively  and  erroneously  concluded  that  the 
driving  of  the  young  males  from  the  hauling  grounds  was  injurious  to 
their  healthy  growth  and  full  development;  that  it  produced  iinpotency 
and  destroyed  their  usefulness  as  breeders  on  the  rookeries,  thus  pro- 
ducing a  dearth  of  breeding  males  and  a  surplus  of  barren  cows,  and, 
without  a  shadow  of  proof  to  sustain  him,  he  made  out  a  most  elaborate 
report  in  which  he  labored  to  show  the  truth  of  his  new  and  wonderful 
theory,  and  then  felt  personally  hurt  and  wronged  because  the  Gov- 
ernment refused  to  indorse  or  approve  it.1 

Kvery  enemy  of  the  United  States  in  both  hemispheres,  however, 
hailed  it  with  delight,  and  quoted  from  it  against  us  with  much  appro- 
bation until,  after  years  of  patient  research  and  scientific  investiga- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  United  States  and  of  Great  Britain,  it  was 
demonstrated  that  Elliott  was  in  error,  and  that  pelagic  sealing  is  the 
cause  of  the  sudden  and  rapid  destruction  of  the  American  fur  seal. 

In  his  overan xiety  to  prove  his  theory  he  persistently  continues  to 
reiterate  the  story  of  a  time  when  no  drives  were  made  from  a  number 
of  places  on  St.  Paul  Island  where  a  great  "  reservoir  of  surplus  male 
life"  was  held  in  reserve;  but  I  will  let  him  tell  his  own  story: 

In  1872-1874  when  no  driving  was  made  from  Southwest  Point,  Zapadnie,  and  all 
English  Bay  to  the  westward  of  Neahrpahskie  Kammeu,  from  Polavina,  or  anywhere 
between  it  and  the  hauling  grounds  of  Lukannon,  then  there  were  reservoirs  of 


See  letter  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Appendix. 


100  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

young  male  life  which  were  not  drawn  upon  or  disturbed,  from  which  a  steady 
stream  of  new  male  blood  for  the  breeding  grounds  could  and  did  now.  (Elliott's 
report  (Paris  print),  1890,  p.  237.) 

Again,  he  says: 

Nobody,  in  1872,  ever  thought  of  such  a  thing  as  coming  over  from  the  village  to 
make  a  killing  at  Zapadnie.  (Ibid.,  p.  246.) 

He  continues : 

I  had  this  point  in  my  thought  during  my  studies  in  1872-1874,  but  at  that  time  no 
holluschickie  were  driven  from  Southwest  "Point,  from  Zapadnie,  from  Tonkee  Mees 
or  Stony  Point,  or  from  Polavinia — no  seals  were  driven  from  these  places  where 
everybody  admitted  that  full  half  of  jthe  entire  number  belonging  to  the  islands, 
laid.  (Ibid.,  271.) 

Then  that  immense  spread  of  hauling  ground  covered  by  swarms  of  young  male 
seals,  at  Zapaduie,  at  Southwest  Point,  at  English  Bay,  beyond  Middle  Hill,  west, 
at  Polavinia,  and  over  all  that  8  long  miles  of  beach  and  upland  hauling  ground 
between  Lukanuon  Bay  and  Webster's  house  at  Novastoshuah,  all  of  this  extensive 
sealing  area  was  not  visited  by  sealing  gangs,  or  spoken  of  by  them  as  necessary  to 
be  driven  from.  (Elliott's  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  report  of  1890, 
p.  iv.) 

In  18J2-1874  I  observed  that  all  the  young  male  seals  needed  for  the  annual  quota 
of  75,000  or  90,000,  as  it  was  ordered  in  the  latter  year,  were  easily  obtained  every 
season,  between  the  1st  of  .1  une  and  the  20th  of  J  uly  following,  from  the  hauling  grounds 
of  Tolstoi,  Lukannon,  and  Zoltoi  Sands — from  these  hauling  grounds  adjacent  to  the 
rookeries  or  breeding  grounds  of  Tolstoi,  Lukaunon,  Reef,  and  Garbotch.  All  of  these 
points  of  supply  being  not  more  than  1|  miles  distant  from  the  St.  Paul  village  kill- 
ing grounds,  the  Zoltoi  drive  being  less  than  600  feet  away.  (Ibid.) 

Therefore,  when  attentively  studying  in  1872-1874,  the  subject  of  what  was  the 
effect  of  killing  annually  100,000  young  male  seals  on  these  islands  (90,000  on  St. 
Paul  and  10,000  on  St.  George),  in  view  of  the  foregoing  statement  of  fact,  I  was 
unable  to  see  how  any  harm  was  being  done  to  the  regular  supply  of  fresh  blood  for 
the  breeding  rookeries,  since  those  large  reservoirs  of  surplus  male  life,  above  named, 
held  at  least  just  half  of  the  young  male  seal  life  then  belonging  to  the  islands — 
these  large  sources  of  supply  were  never  driven  from,  never  even  visited  by  the 
sealers,  and  out  of  their  overwhelming  abundance;  I  thought  that  surely  enough 
fresh  male  seal  life  must,  did  annually  mature  for  service  on  the  breeding  rookeries. 
(Ibid.) 

That  day  in  1879,  when  it  became  necessary  to  send  a  sealing  gang  from  St.  Paul 
village  over  to  Zapaduie  to  regularly  drive  from  that  hitherto  untouched  reserve, 
was  the  day  that  danger  first  appeared  in  tangible  form  since  1870— since  1857  for 
that  matter.  (Ibid.) 

For  the  good  of  the  public  service  the  truth  must  be  told;  and  that 
is  that  the  official  records  of  the  drives  and  killings  on  the  islands  of 
St.  Paul  and  St.  George  are  in  direct  opposition  to  Mr.  Elliott.  They 
show  that,  beginning  in  1871,  there  are  no  records  of  the  daily  killings 
for  1870 — drives  were  made  regularly  from  every  hauling  ground  on  the 
islands:  and  a  close  inspection  will  reveal  the  fact  that  an  aggregate  of 
102  drives  were  made,  before  1879,  from  Zapadnie  or  Southwest  Bay, 
Polavinia  or  Halfway  Point,  and  from  English  Bay,  during  the  very 
period  of  which  Mr.  Elliott  speaks  when  he  tells  us  "they  were  never 
driven  from,  never  even  visited  by  the  sealers." 

For  convenience  of  reference  I  quote  from  the  official  island  records 
the  daily  drives  and  killings  made  between  1870  and  1871)  from  the  three 
principal  rookeries  of  which  Mr.  Elliott  speaks  so  positively;  and  1 
think  it  will  be  sufficient  to  show  every  fair-minded  man  in  the  country 
that  the  large  reservoir  of  "surplus  male  life"  so  often  spoken  of  by 
Mr.  Elliott  was  unknown  to  everyone  else  on  the  seal  islands,  and  never 
had  an  existence  outside  his  own  fertile  imagination. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  101 

Here  are  the  drives  made  each  year  from  1871  to  1878,  both  inclusive, 
from  the  rookeries  in  question : 


Year. 

Zapadnie.  ,  Polavina, 
or                   or            English     ,r  .„, 
Southwest      Halfwax          Bay. 
Bay.            Point. 

1871 

•J 
1 
5    .   . 

1                   6 
1                 11 
.     ..                 7 

9 
13 
12 
15 
18 
11 
12 
12 

1873                  .                      .                      

1874 

5 

10 

1875 

7 
1 

4 

4 

1                  10 
1                    4 
3                   5 
5 

1876           .                  .             

U77 

1878 

Total 

M. 

10                58 

102 

(See  Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  107,  Fifty-second  Congress,  second  session,  Appendix.) 

In  an  attempt  to  show  that  it  was  not  until  1879  that  drives  were 
made  from  certain  rookeries  whicli  he  is  pleased  to  call  a  "large  reser- 
voir of  male  life,"  which  had  not  been  disturbed  or  touched  before  1879, 
Mr.  Elliott  quotes  the  Island  Journal  as  follows: 

Page  92,  June  9,  1879:  Antone  Melovedov  started  \vith  a  gang  to  make  a  drive  at 
Halfway  Point,  Polaviua.  (Elliott's  report  (Paris  print),  158.; 

Page  9:i.  .June  10,1879:  The  drive  to-day  (at  Polaviua)  resulted  in  the  taking  of 
1,118  skins.  (H.G.Otis.)  (Ibid.,  159.) 

Page  93,  June  11,  1879:  The  drive  from  Southwest  Bay  (Zapadnie)  to-day,  and 
1,462  skins  taken.  (H.  G.  Otis.)  (Ibid.,  159.) 

There  is  not  a  word  in  the  foregoing,  nor  is  there  a  word  in  the 
journal,  to  show  that  the  drives  mentioned  were  the  first  that  were 
made  from  those  rookeries,  but  Mr.  Elliott  is  determined  to  show  that 
overdriving  is  the  principal  cause  of  the  destruction  of  the  seals,  and 
he  continues: 

From  this  day  (June  11, 1879)  on  to  the  close  of  that  sealing  season's  work,  July 
20,  Zapadnie  was  driven  often,  and  Polavina  also;  but  in  1880  only  one  drive  was 
made  from  this  reservoir  at  Zapadnie,  *  *  and,  again  in  1881,  it  was  not  driven 

from  at  all,  and  only  one  drive  that  year  made  from  the  Polavina  reserve.     (Elliott's 
report  for  1890,  p.  159.) 

Here  the  gentleman  is  again  in  error,  for  I  find  that  drives  were  made 
from  Zapadnie  or  Southwest  Bay  on  May  19  and  June  7, 1879,  only  a  few 
days  before  he  discovered  that  the  first  drive  had  been  made  on  the  9th 
of  June. 

And  in  1880  four  drives  were  made  from  Zapadnie  and  five  from 
Polavina,  and  in  1881  six  drives  were  made  from  Zapadnie  and  five 
from  Polaviua,  as  the  following  table,  taken  from  the  island  records, 
will  show : 

Zapadnie  or  Southwest  Hay:  Polavina  or  Halfway  Point: 

J880.                                              Driret.  1880.                                              Drives. 

May  14 1;          Junel4 1 

JuneS 1  21 1 

12 1  28 1 

Hi 1  July    5 1 

'  30 1 

Total 4  

Total 5 

1881.  = 

June  7 1  1881. 

15 1  June  10 1 

28 1  j  17 1 

July    6 1  24       1 

14 1  July    2 1 

Dec.    7 1  8 1 

Total 6,  Total 5 

(See  Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  107,  Fifty-second  Congress,  second  session,  Appendix.) 


102  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Many  inaccuracies  are  to  be  found  in  Mr.  Elliott's  report  of  1890,  due, 
perhaps,  to  the  hurried  manner  in  which  it  was  prepared,  and  the 
bitterness,  excitement,  and  many  disappointments  attending  it  all  the 
way  through;  nearly  all  of  which  were  of  a  private  character,  and 
which  can  not  well  be  made  public,  even  had  I  a  desire  to  do  so,  which 
I  have  not  by  any  means.  One  instance  more  and  I  am  done. 

In  his  "  Held  notes"  on  the  state  of  the  rookeries  in  1890,  Mr.  Elliott 
writes  : 

June  19. — Not  a  single  holluschak  of  aiiy  age  whatsoever  on  Zoltoi  Sands  this  day, 
and  there  has  not  been  a  killable  seal  thus  far  there  this  season.  (Elliott's  report 
1890  (Paris  print),  pp.  263-264.) 

June  22. — Fine  weather  for  seals  to  haul  in  continues,  but  the  seals  do  not  haul; 
not  a  single  seal  on  Zoltoi  Sands  this  morning;  has  not  been  a  holluschak  there  vet. 
(Ibid.,  p!  264.) 

June  22. — Now,  not  a  single  young  male  seal  has  hauled  on  Zoltoi  thus  far  this  sea- 
son. (June  22,  6  a.  m.)  (Ibid.,  p.  265.) 

June  22. — Not  a  seal  on  Zoltoi  Sands  this  morning,  and  not  one  since  during  the 
day.  (Ibid.,  p.  266.) 

June  22.— Not  a  holluschak  or  any  other  class  of  fur  seal  on  Zoltoi  Sands  this  morn- 
ing or  noon.  (Ibid.,  p.  274.) 

June  30.— Not  a  holluschak  on  Zoltoi  Sands  to-day.     (Ibid.,  p.  276.) 

July  8. — Also,  not  a  holluschak  has  as  yet  hauled  upon  Zoltoi  Sands.  (Ibid., 
p.  284.) 

July  19.— I  observe  that  not  a  single  young  male  is  on  Zoltoi  Sands  thi.s  morning— 
not  one  has  hauled  there  thus  far  this  season.  (Ibid.,  p.  295.) 

The  official  records  of  the  drives  and  killings  made  on  the  seal  islands 
in  1890  are  on  file  in  the  Treasury  Department,  and  a  copy  will  be  found 
in  the  appendix  to  this  report.  I  quote  from  the  records  the  following 
drives  from  Zoltoi  in  1S90:  "May  24,  1  drive;  July  19,  1  drive." 

According  to  Mr.  Elliott  there  was  not  a  seal  on  Zoltoi  on  the  19th  of 
July;  according  to  the  island  records  a  drive  was  made  from  Zoltoi  on 
that  very  same  day. 

Another  error  of  like  importance  are  the  two  passages  in  the  same 
report  which  read  as  follows: 

The  importance  of  understanding  this  fact  as  to  the  readiness  of  the  holluschickie 
to  haul  promptly  out  on  steadily  "  swept '•'  ground,  provided  the  weather  is  inviting, 
is  very  great,  because  when  not  understood,  it  was  deemed  necessary,  even  as  late  as 
the  season  of  1872,  to  -'rest''  the  hauling  grounds  near  the  village  (from  which  all 
the  driving  has  been  made  since),  and  make  trips  to  far  away  Polavina  and  distant 
Xapadnie.  an  unnecessary  expenditure  of  human  time  and  a  causeless  infliction  of 
physical  misery  upon  phocine  backs  and  flippers.  (Elliott's  report,  1890,  p.  122.) 

Nobody  in  1872  ever  thought  of  such  a  thing  as  coming  over  from  the  village  to 
make  a  killing  at  Zapaduie.  (Ibid.,  p.  246.) 

At  page  122  Mr.  Elliott  remembered  and  acknowledged  that  drives 
were  made  in  1872  from  Zapadnie  and  Polavina,  and  the  records  con- 
firm his  story. 

He  might  have  included  1871,  for  the  records  show  drives  were  made 
from  both  places  in  that  year  also. 

At  page  246  he  seems  to  have  forgotten  some  of  what  he  had  already 
written,  for  he  gravely  tells  us:  u Nobody  in  1872  ever  thought  of  such 
a  thing  as  coming  over  from  the  village  to  make  a  killing  at  Zapadnie." 

Enough  has  been  said,  I  think,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  public 
how  it  happens,  sometimes,  that  matters  of  small  moment  in  themselves 
may  beget  questions  so  momentous  that  it  requires  international  arbi- 
tration to  settle  them:  and  that  the  report  of  one  overzealous  officer 
and  the  official  report  of  another,  made  in  anger  and  bitterness,  have 
cost  the  United  States  a  whole  fur-seal  herd,  worth,  originally,  nearly 
$100,000,000. 

Ho  numerous  and  so  palpable  were  the  inaccuracies  all  through  the 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  103 

report  that  Mr.  Foster,  the  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  refused  to 
have  it  published,  and  subsequently,  in  a  letter  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment, gave  good  reasons  for  such  action.1 

That  the  theory  of  injury  of  the  young  males  to  the  extent  of  inipo- 
tency  by  driving  on  the  islands,  so  forcibly  presented  by  Mr.  Elliott, 
has  been  denied  by  naturalists  generally  and  disproved  by  facts 
adduced  by  both  the  scientific  and  the  practical  world,  has  already 
been  amply  demonstrated;  that  Mr.  Elliott  himself,  in  several  very 
able  papers  subsequently  written,  has  adopted  the  views  of  every 
scientist  of  note,  from  our  own  American,  Dr.  Merriam,  to  Prof.  T.  H. 
Huxley,  is  satisfactory  evidence,  I  think,  that  the  bitter  contention  is 
practically  ended,  and  the  claim  of  the  United  States,  that  pelagic 
sealing  is  the  cause  of  the  decrease  of  the  seal  herd,  is  generally 
acknowledged. 

PELAGIC   SEALING    AND   DIPLOMACY. 

When  the  actual  condition  of  the  seal  herd  became  known  in  1890-91, 
and  the  ravages  of  the  pelagic  sealer  could  no  longer  be  hidden,  it  was 
suggested  that  arbitration  be  tried  for  a  final  adjustment  of  all  differ- 
ences between  the  United  States  and  the  pelagic  sealer.  The  seals 
being  born  and  reared  on  United  States  territory,  and  never  landing 
anywhere  else,  it  was  naturally  supposed  they  were  the  property  of  the 
United  States,  and  until  their  skins  became  commercially  and  exceed- 
ingly valuable  no  one  questioned  our  absolute  ownership  of  the  herd. 
So  sure  were  we  of  our  unquestioned  title  to  the  seals  that,  on  taking 
possession  of  our  newly  acquired  Territory  of  Alaska,  Congress  enacted 
laws  for  the  protection  of  Alaskan  interests  and  particularly  for  the 
protection  of  all  " fur-bearing  animals."  A  few  sections  of  the  statute 
law,  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  are  interesting: 

SKC.  I960.  It  shall  be  unlawful  to  kill  any  fur  seal  upon  the  islands  of  St.  Paul 
and  St.  (ieorge,  or  in  the  waters  adjacent  thereto,  except  during  the  months  of  June, 
July,  September,  and  October  in  each  year;  and  it  shall  be  unlawful  to  kill  such 
seals  at  any  time  by  the  use  of  firearms  or  by  other  means  tending  to  drive  the  seals 
away  fronrthose  islands;  but  the  natives  of  the  islands  shall  have  the  privilege  of 
killing  such  young  seals  as  may  be  necessary  for  their  own  food  and  clothing  during 
other  months,  ami  also  such  old  seals  as  may  be  required  for  their  own  clothing  and 
for  the  manufacture  of  boats  for  their  own  use;  and  the  killing  in  such  cases  shall 
be  limited  and  controlled  by  such  regulations  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury. 

SEC.  1961.  It  shall  be  unlawful  to  kill  any  female  seal,  or  any  seal  less  than  one 
year  old,  at  any  season  of  the  year,  except  as  above  provided;  and  it  shall  also  be 
unlawful  to  kill  any  seal  in  the  waters  adjacent  to  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St. 
George,  or  on  the  beaches,  cliffs,  01  rocks  where  they  haul  up  from  the  sea  to  remain; 
and  every  person  who  violates  the  provisions  of  this  or  the  preceding  section  shall 
be  punished  for  each  offence  by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  two  hundred  dollars  nor  more 
than  one  thousand  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  not  more  than  six  months,  or  by 
both  such  h'ne  and  imprisonment;  and  all  vessels,  their  tackle,  apparel,  and  furni- 
ture, whose  crews  are  found  engaged  in  the  violation  of  either  this  or  the  preceding 
section,  shall  be  forfeited  to  the  United  States. 

SK< •.  li'62.  For  the  period  of  twenty  years  from  the  first  of  July,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy,  the  number  of  fur  seals  which  may  be  killed  for  their  skins  upon 
the  island  of  St.  Paul  is  limited  to  seventy-five  thousand  per  annum;  and  the  num- 
ber of  fur  seals  which  may  be  killed  for  their  skins  upon  the  island  of  St.  George  is 
limited  to  twenty-five  thousand  per  annum ;  but  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may 
limit  the  right  of  killing  if  it  becomes  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  such  seals, 
with  such  proportionate  reduction  of  the  rents  reserved  to  the  Government  as  may 
be  proper;  and  every  person  who  knowingly  violates  either  of  the  provisions  of  this 
section  shall  be  punished  as  provided  in  the  preceding  section. 

SEC.  1967.  Every  person  who  kills  any  fur  seal  on  either  of  those  islands,  or  in  the 
•waters  adjacent  thereto,  without  authority  of  the  lessees  thereof,  and  every  person 

1  See  letter  in  Appendix. 


104  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

who  molests,  disturbs,  or  interferes  with  the  lessees,  or  either  of  them,  or  their 
agents,  or  employees,  in  the  lawful  prosecution  of  their  business,  under  the  provi- 
sions of  this  chapter,  shall  for  each  offence  be  punished  as  prescribed  in  section  nine- 
teen hundred  and  sixty  one,  and  all  vessels,  their  tackle,  apparel,  appurtenances, 
and  cargo,  whose  crews  are  found  engaged  in  any  violation  of  the  provisions  of  sec- 
tion nineteen  hundred  and  sixty-live  to  nineteen  hundred  and  sixty -eight,  inclusive, 
shall  be  forfeited  to  the  United  States. 

SEC.  1968.  If  any  person  or  company,  under  any  lease  herein  authori/ed,  know- 
ingly kills,  or  permits  to  be  killed,  any  number  of  seals  exceeding  the  number  for 
each  island  in  this  chapter  prescribed,  such  person  or  company  shall,  in  addition  to 
the  penalties  and  forfeitures  herein  provided,  forfeit  the  whole  number  of  the  skins 
of  seals  killed  in  that  year,  or,  in  case  the  same  have  been  disposed  of,  then  such 
person  or  company  shall  forfeit  the  value  of  the  same. 

Thus  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  did  tbe  United  States  throw  every 
possible  safeguard  of  law  around  the  seals  and  other  fur-bearing  ani- 
mals of  Alaska,  which,  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  Government, 
and  the  good  management  of  the  lessees  on  the  seal  islands,  produced 
the  grand  results  of  "growth  and  expansion"  in  the  herd  and  on  the 
rookeries,  sworn  to  by  so  many  disinterested  witnesses  who  have  had 
ocular  knowledge  of  every  fact  to  which  they  testified,  while  during 
the  same  period  of  time  the  sea  otter,  which,  owing  to  its  pelagic  habits, 
was  necessarily  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  pelagic  hunter,  who 
knows  no  law  higher  or  holier  than  avarice  and  selfishness,  has  been 
practically  exterminated.  Laws  were  enacted  from  time  to  time  as 
occasion  required  them;  regulations  in  accordance  with  law  were  made 
annually  for  the  proper  enforcement  of  the  statutes  and  for  the  better- 
ment of  the  natives  of  the  seal  islands  and  the  industry  upon  which 
they  depended  for  a  livelihood,  and  on  which  millions  of  civilized  people 
depended  for  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  valuable,  and  useful  furs  known 
to  commerce. 

Who  else,  among  the  thousands  now  claiming  an  interest  in  the  seals, 
ever  offered  to  protect  them  as  we  have  done  ? 

Where  was  the  pelagic  sealer  in  the  days  gone  by,  when  the  United 
States  were  spending  millions  of  money  to  protect  the  seal  islands,  and 
when  our  statutes  of  protection  to  the  female  seal  were  being  enacted t 
Echo  answers,  u  Where?" 

Immediately  after  the  treaty  of  cession,  and  before  we  could  bring 
order  out  of  chaos,  the  marauder  of  those  days  landed  on  the  seal 
islands  and  slaughtered  seals  indiscriminately,  killing  a  quarter  of  a 
million  in  one  season,  and  only  stopping  the  ruinous  work  when  the 
salt  was  exhausted. 

Afterwards  the  United  States  statutes  were  enforced  by  Government 
agents  sent  to  the  islands  for  the  purpose,  and,  until  3884,  the  seals 
increased  in  numbers  and  in  value  under  the  fostering  care  of  the 
Government. 

For  a  period  of  thirteen  years,  from  1.871  to  18S4,  inclusive,  we  had 
taken  100,000  male  seals  annually  without  a  sign  of  decrease  or  diminu- 
tion on  the  rookeries  or  the  slightest  injury  to  the  herd,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  a  well-known  and  generally  acknowledged  growth  and  expan- 
sion. 

Dr.  H.  H.  Mclntyre,  general  superintendent  for  the  Alaska  Commer- 
cial Company  at  the  seal  islands  during  the  entire  term  of  their  twenty 
years  lease,  when  writing  confidentially  to  his  company  in  1889,  says: 

The  breeding  rookeries  from  the  beginning  of  the  lease  to  1882  or  1883  were,  I 
believe,  constantly  increasing  in  area  and  population,  and  my  observations  in  this 
direction  are  in  accordance  with  those  of  Mr.  Morgan,  Mr.  Webster,  and  others,  who 
have  been  for  many  years  with  me  in  your  service,  and  of  the  late  special  Treas- 
ury agent,  J.  M.  Morton,  who  was  on  the  islands  from  1870  to  1880.  (See  letter  in 
Appendix.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  ^     105 

In  1.SS4  an  increased  fleet  of  pelagic  sealers  appear  upon  the  scene, 
and  with  vessels  specially  designed  and  fully  equipped  for  the  workr 
they  follow  the  seals  from  year's  end  to  year's  end,  shooting,  spearing, 
and  ripping  up  all  they  overtake,  without  a  thought  or  care  for  age, 
sex,  or  condition;  and  immediately  the  rookeries  show  signs  of  diminu- 
tion to  those  who,  like  Morgan  and  Webster,  had  the  experience  and 
the  opportunity  to  observe  it. 

Dr.  Mclntyre,  in  the  letter  already  quoted,  continues: 
The  contrast  between  the  present  condition  of  seal  life  and  that  of  the  first  dec- 
ade of  the  lease  is  so  marked  that  the  most  inexpert  can  not  fail  to  notice  it.  Just 
when  the  change  commenced  I  am  unable  from  personal  observation  to  say,  for,  aa- 
you  will  remember.  I  was  in  ill  health,  and  unable  to  visit  the  islands  in  1883,  1884, 
and  iss.~>.  1  left  the  rookeries  in  1882  in  their  fullest  and  best  condition,  and  found 
them  in  lSS(i  siln-ady  showing  a  slight  falling  off,  and  experienced  that  year  for  the 
first  time  some  difficulty  in  securing  just  the  class  of  animals  in  every  case  that  we 
desired.  *  •  »  For  the  cause  of  the  present  diminution  of  seal  life  we  have 
not  far  to  look.  It  is  directly  traceable  to  the  illicit  killing  of  seals  of  every  age 
and  sex  during  the  last  few  years  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea. 
We  are  in  no  way  responsible  for  it.  During  the  first  thirteen  years  of  the  lease 
comparatively  few  seals  were  killed  by  marauders,  and  we  were  then  able, 
under  our  careful  management,  to  produce  a  decided  expansion  of  the  breeding 
rookeries. 

Dr.  Mclutyre's  letter  was  written  in  1889,  when  the  effects  of  pelagic 
sealing  tirst  startled  the  civilized  world,  and  his  statements  were  met 
with  doubt  or  open  denial  from  all  who  were  ignorant  of  the  situation, 
and  with  the  charge,  from  pelagic  sealers  and  their  apologists,  that  the 
Americans  had  destroyed  the  seals  by  overdriving  on  land. 

The  absurdity  and  the  injustice  of  this  idle  charge  have  been  shown 
in  many  ways  during  the  discussion  of  the  seal  question,  but  it  is  reit- 
erated again  and  again  by  those  who  have  established  what  they  are 
pleased  to  call  an  "industry,"  the  chief  corner  stone  of  which  is  the 
killing  of  the  female  seals  at  sea — of  seals  about  to  become  mothers, 
from  whose  suddenly  ripped  bellies  the  unborn  young  are  cut,  or  torn 
out  alive  and  thrown  into  the  ocean — of  mothers  whose  young  have 
been  left  upon  the  rookeries  during  their  absence  on  the  feeding  grounds, 
left  to  die  of  slow  starvation  where,  as  Captain  Coulson  truly  says, 
uthe  shores  are  lined  with  emaciated,  hungry  little  fellows,  with  their 
eyes  turned  toward  the  sea,  uttering  plaintive  cries  for  their  mothers, 
which  were  destined  never  to  return." 

And.  hard  as  it  may  seem,  and  difficult  to  believe  though  it  may  be, 
it  was  with  this  same  pelagic  sealer,  or  for  his  sake  at  least,  we  were 
asked  to  arbitrate  the  question  of  our  exclusive  right  of  property  in 
the  seal  herd,  and  of  our  right  to  protect  them  outside  of  the  ordinary, 
"3  miles,"  limit  from  the  land  upon  which  they  were  born  and  which 
they  made  their  home. 

Even  Mr.  Elliott  was  induced  to  lend  his  influence  to  the  scheme  for 
arbitration,  and,  after  his  return  from  the  seal  islands  in  1890,  we  find 
him  addressing  Mr.  Elaine,  who  was  then  Secretary  of  State,  as  follows: 

Let  me  again,  just  before  I  leave,  earnestly  urge  that  you  do  not  hesitate  to  invite 
an  English  commission  to  meet  us,  and  jointly  visit  and  view  the  Pribilof  seal  rook- 
eries next  summer  at  the  height  of  the  breeding  season  in  .July.  That  wreck  and 
ruin  thereon,  which  I  saw  last  summer,  will  be  there,  and  still  more  pronounced 
on  the  same  ground  next  year  (1891);  it  will  not  fail  to  arouse  the  interest  and  sym- 
pathy of  the  British  agents,  and  the  sight  of  these  dwindling  herds  will  be  a  most 
eloquent  and  satisfactory  proof  of  the  correctness  of  your  position  taken  in  your 
leading  letter  of  .January  22, 1890,  and  upon  the  truth  of  which  your  whole  argument 
in  the  Bering  Sea  question  rests.  It  is  not  quite  fair  to  ask  John  Bull  to  believe  me 
now,  but  I  assure  you  that  if  he  gets  up  there  he  will  soon  see  enough  to 

make  him  respect  me,  and  be  our  sworn  friend  in  cooperating  to  save  the  fur  seal 
from  impending  extermination.  Indeed,  he  should  be  allowed  to  see  for  himself  now; 
it  is  only  manly  and  fair  in  us  to  allow  him  to  do  so  under  the  circumstances. 
(Elliott  to  Hlaine,  December  19,  1890.) 


106  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

• 

The  English  commission  was  invited  as  suggested  by  Mr.  Elliott;  the 
commissioners  arrived  at  the  seal  islands  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  1891 ; 
they  visited  the  rookeries  and  saAv  the  "  wreck  and  ruin  thereon;"  they 
noted  the  "dwindling  herds,"  and  they  saw  new  grass  growing  on  acres 
of  ground  where,  a  few  years  earlier,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  seals 
swarmed  in  season  and  brought  forth  their  young.  The  commissioners 
found  acres  of  ground  covered  with  dead  pup  seals  as  thick  as  they 
could  lie — u  emaciated  little  fellows" — whose  mothers  had  gone  out  to 
the  feeding  banks,  and  were  captured  by  the  pelagic  sealers. 

Whether  the  visit  induced  them  to  believe  or  respect  Mr.  Elliott 
remains  to  be  seen,  but  it  certainly  did  not  u arouse  their  interest  or 
sympathy"  for  the  seals,  or  for  the  nation  that  claimed  the  right  to  pro- 
tect them.  Xor  did  it  make  them  "our  sworn  friends  in  cooperating  to 
save  the  fur  seal  from  impending  extermination." 

On  the  contrary,  though,  they  adopted  Mr.  Elliott's  own  exploded 
theories  of  overdriving,  impotency,  dearth  of  bulls,  lack  of  young  male 
blood,  redriving,  scraping  the  rookeries,  stampeding,  and  added  two  or 
three  more  of  their  own,  almost  as  absurd  and  nonsensical;  and  they 
wound  up  their  sympathetic  and  impartial  labor  in  behalf  of  protection 
for  fur  seals  by  the  following  regulations  suggested  by  the  British 
Bering  8ea  commissioners: 

(H)  SPECIFIC  SCHEME  OF  REGULATIONS  RKCOMMENDEH. 

155.  In  view  of  the  actual  condition  of  seal  life  as  it  presents  itself  to  us  at  the 
present  time,  we  believe  that  the  requisite  degree  of  protection  would  be  afforded  by 
the  application  of  the  following  specific  limitations  at  shore  and  at  sea: 

(a)  The  maximum  number  of  seals  to  be  taken  on  the  Fribilof  Islands  to  be  fixed 
at  50,000. 

(&)  A  zone  of  protected  waters  to  be  established,  extending  to  a  distance  of  20 
nautical  miles  from  the  islands. 

(c)  A  close  season  to  be  provided,  extending  from  the  15th  of  September  to  the  1st 
of  May  in  each  year,  during  which  all  killing  of  seals  shall  be  prohibited,  with  the 
additional  provision  that  no  sealing  vessel  shall  enter  Bering  Sea  before  the  1st  of 
July  in  each  year. 

156.  Respecting  the  compensatory  feature  of  such  specific  regulations,  it  is  believed 
that  a  just  scale  of  equivalency  as  between  shore  and  sea  sealing  would  be  found, 
and  a  complete  check  established  against  any  undue  diminution  of  seals,  by  adopting 
the  following  as  a  unit  of  compensatory  regulation: 

For  each  decrease  of  10,000  in  the  number  h'xed  for  killing  on  the  islands,  an 
increase  of  10  nautical  miles  to  be  given  to  the  width  of  protected  waters  about  the 
islands.  The  minimum  number  to  be  fixed  for  killing  on  the  islands  to  be  10,000, 
corresponding  to  a  maximum  width  of  protected  waters  of  60  nautical  miles. 

157.  The  above  regulations  represent  measures  at  sea  and  ashore  sufficiently  equiv- 
alent for  all  practical  purposes,  and  probably  embody  or  provide  for  regulations  as 
applied  to  sealing  on  the  high  seas  as  stringent  as  would  be  admitted  by  any  mari- 
time power,  whether  directly  or  only  potentially  interested. 

158.  As  an  alternative  method  of  effecting  a  compensatory  adjustment  of  the  strin- 
gency of  measures  of  protection,  it  is  possible  that  some  advantages  might  be  found 
in  the  adoption  of  a  sliding  scale  of  length  for  the  season  of  sealing  at  sea,  with  a 
fixed  width  of  zone  of  protection  about  the  Islands. 

In  this  case  it  is  believed  that,  in  correspondence  with  a  decrease  of  10,000  seals 
killed  upon  the  breeding  islands,  the  length  of  the  sealing  season  at  sea  might  be 
curtailed  by  seven  days,  such  curtailment  to  be  applied  either  to  the  opening  or  clos- 
ing time  of  the  sealing  season. 

159.  It  may  be  objected  to  the  principle  involved  in  any  correlative  regulation  of 
shore  and  sea  sealing  that  it  would  be  impossible  in  any  particular  year  to  make 
known  the  number  fixed  for  killing  on  the  islands  in  time  to  secure  a  corresponding 
regulation  of  pelagic  sealing.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  if  the  condition  of  the 
breeding  rookeries  called  for  any  change,  it  should  be  possible  to  fix  this  number 
with  sufficient  precision  a  year  in  advance,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  general 
effect  would  be  almost  equally  advantageous  if  the  number  killed  on  the  islands  in 
any  one  year  were  employed  as  the  factor  of  regulation  for  pelagic  sealing  in  the  fol- 
lowing year. 


>KAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  107 

.  While  a  /.one  of  protection  has  been  spoken  of  as  the  best,  method  of  safely 
guarding  the  vicinity  of  the  breeding  islands,  it  is  to  lie  borne  in  mind  that  such  an 
ar«-a  mi.ulit  be  defined  for  pract  ieal  pin-poses  ;is  a  rectangular  area  bounded  by  certain 
lines  of  latitude  and  longitude,  liven  in  dense  fog,  and  therefore  comparatively 
calm  weather,  an  arrested  vessel  could  be  anchored  with  a  ked.ive  and  warp  until  the 
weather  cleared,  according  to  frequent  custom.  The  special  advantages  of  a  concen- 
tric /one  appear  to  he  that  it  is  more  directly  in  conformity  with  the  object  in  view, 
and  that  in  line  weather  the  visibility  or  otherwise  of  the  islands  themselves  might 
serve  as  a  rough  guide  to  sealers. 

Hil.  The  restriction  of  the  number  of  seals  killed  on  the  breeding  islands,  appro- 
priate safeguards  being  provided,  admits  of  very  considerable  precision  and  requires 
no  special  explanation.  That  the  restriction  of  the  number  taken  at  sea  may  be 
accomplished  practically  and  with  all  necessary  certainty,  and  that  the  means  of  con- 
trol available  in  the  case  of  this  branch  of  the  sealing  industry  are  sufficient,  is 
clearly  shown  by  the  successful  application  of  measures  such  as  these  here  proposed, 
to  the  .ian-Mayen  and  Newfoundland  hair-seal  fisheries,  as  well  as  of  those  based  on 
like  principles,  which  are  generally  employed  in  protecting  fish  and  game. 

((')  MKTIIODS  or  GIVIXH  Hi  FKCT  TO  REGULATIONS. 

UJ2.  The  means  suited  to  secure  the  practical  efficiency  of  regulations  at  sea  are 
generally  indicated  by  those  adopted  in  the  instances  just  cited.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  formulate  these  here  in  full  detail,  but  the  following  suggestions  are  offered  as 
pointing  out  those  methods  likely  to  prove  most  useful  in  the  particular  case  under 
consideration  : 

(1)  {Statutory  provisions  should  be  made,  declaring  it  unlawful  to  hunt  or  take 
fur  seal  during  the  close  season  by  subjects  or  vessels  of  the  respective  powers. 

(2)  The  time  of  commencement  of  the  sealing  season  should  be  further  regulated 
by  the  date  of  issuance  of  special  customs  clearances  and  of  licenses  for  sealing,  and 
preferably  by  the  issuance  of  such  clearances  or  licenses  from  certain  specified  ports 
only. 

(3)  As  elsewhere  explained,  the  regulation  of  the  time  of  opening  of  the  sealing 
Reason  is  the  most  important,  and  the  closing  of  the  season  is  practically  brought 
about  by  the  onset  of  rough  weather  in  the  early  autumn.     If,  however,  it  be  con- 
sidered desirable  to  tix  a  precise  date  for  the  close  of  sea  sealing  in  each  year,  this 
can  be  done,  as  in  the  case  of  the  date  of  sealing  under  the  Jan-Mayen  convention. 

(4)  The  liability  for  breach  of  regulations,  of  whatever  kind,  should  bo  made  to 
apply  to  the  owner,  to  the  master,  or  person  in  charge  of  any  vessel,  and  to  the  hunt- 
ers engaged  on  the  vessel. 

(5)  The  penalty  imposed  should  be  a  fine  (of  which  one  half  should   go  to  the 
informant),  with   possibly,  in   aggravated  cases  or  second  offenses,  the  forfeiture  of 
the  catch  and  of  the  vessel  itself. 

(6)  To  facilitate  the  supervision  of  the  seal  fishery  and  the  execution  of  the  regu- 
lations, all  sealers  might,  in  addition,  be  required  to  tly  a  distinctive  rlag,  which 
might  well  be  identical  with  or  some  color  modification  of  that  already  adopted  for 
the  same  purpose  by  the  Japanese  Government. 

(D)  ALTKRXATIVK  METHODS  OF  REGULATION. 

1(>3.  Although  the  general  scheme  of  measures  above  described  appears  to  us,  all 
things  considered,  to  be  the  most  appropriate  to  the  actual  circumstances,  measures 
of  other  kinds  have  suggested  themselves.  Some  of  these,  though  perhaps  less  per- 
fectly adapted  to  secure  the  fullest  advantages,  recommend  themselves  from  their 
very  simplicity  and  the  ease  with  which  they  might  lie  applied.  Of  such  alternative 
methods  of  regulations,  three  may  be  Specially  referred  to: 

(1)   Entire  prohihitiun  of  killing  on  one  of  the  breeding  island*,  with  suitable  concurrent 

regulation*  at  sea. 

1K4.  The  entire  reservation  and  protection  of  one  of  the  two  larger  islands  of  the 
Pribilof  group,  either  St.  Paul  or  St.  George  Island,  might  be  assured;  such  island 
to  be  maintained  as  an  undisturbed  breeding  place,  upon  which  no  seals  shall  be 
killed  for  any  purpose.  On  the  remaining  island  the  number  of  seals  killed  for  com- 
mercial purposes  would  remain  wholly  under  the  control  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States. 

In  consideration  of  the  guaranteed  preservation  of  a  breeding  island  with  the  pur- 
pose of  insuring  the  continuance  of  the  seal  stock  in  the  common  interest,  a  zone  of 
protected  waters  might  be  established  about  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  pelagic  seal- 
ing might  be  further  controlled  and  restricted  by  means  of  a  close  season,  including 
the  early  spring  months,  or  by  a  protected  area  to  the  south  of  the  Aleutian  Islands, 
defined  by  parallels  of  latitude,  such  provisions  at  sea  to  have,  as  far  as  possible, 
quantivalent  relation  to  those  established  on  the  breeding  islands. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


!»;."..  This  implies  tin-  provision  of  a  period  of  rest  or  exemption  of  all  seals  from 
killing,  liolh  at  sea  and  on  shore,  to  extend  o\er  a  eomjdete  year  at  such  recurrent 
intervals  as  may  lie  defined  neeessar\  . 

Sueii  a  period  of'  rest  might  he  lived  in  ad\  an*  e  for  everv  tifth.  or  possibly  as  often 
as  every  fourth  year,  and  he  made  to  forma  part  of  a  general  scheme  imposing 
limitation  of  number  of  seals  killed  on  the  islands  in  intervening  years,  together 
with  restriction  by  time  or  h\  area  of  pelagic  sealing. 

While  proximately  equal  in  effect  on  hoth  shore  and  sea  killing  a  period  of  lest  of 
this  kind  \\ould.  in  oilier  respects,  cans'-  some  ineonveii  iem-e.  by  its  int  erru  pt  ion  of 
the  severa  1  i  udiist  rh-s.  and  this,  t  hou^h  minimi/ed  liy  t  iie  fart  t  hat  the  date  of  ocenr- 
reiiee  of  the  \ear  of  rest  wouhl  he  k  1 1  o  \\  n  iii  ad  van  re.  would  not  lie  \\  hull  \  oh  via  ted 
hv  this  eil'cumstanee. 


lii'i.  While  the  ( -ire  must  ance  that  hm^  usa^'e  may  in  a  measure  he  considered  as 
justifying  the  custom  of  killing  fur  seals  on  the  breeding  islands,  man\  tacts  no\v 
known  respecting  the  lite  history  of  the  animal  itself,  with  valid  inferences  drawn 
from  the  results  of  the  disturbance  of  other  animals  upon  their  breeding  places,  as 
well  as  those  made  obvious  by  the  new  conditions  which  'have  arisen  in  consequence 
of  the  development  of  pelagic  sealing,  point  to  the  conclusion  that  the  breeding 
island>  should,  if  possible,  remain  undisturbed  and  inviolate. 

lt>7.  If  this  \  iew  should  he  admitted,  and  particularly  if  the  1'nited  States  and 
Russia,  as  the  owners  of  the  principal  breeding  islands  of  the  North  1'acitic,  should 
agree  to  cooperate  in  entirely  prohibiting  all  killing  of  seals  on  these  islands,  and 
in  guarding  and  protecting  the  breeding  places  upon  them,  it  should  be  possible  to 
obtain,  in  consideration  of  such  care  exercised  in  the  common  interest,  an  inter- 
national as-cut  to  measures  regulating  sea  sealing  of  any  required  decree  of  strin- 
gency, including  certain  sp<  cm  1  rights  of  supervision  by  the  powers  mentioned. 

IfJS.    It  miu'ht.  tor  example,  under  such  circumstances,  lie  provided  — 

1  That  all  sealing  vessels  should  be  registered,  and  should  take  out  special 
licenses  at  one  oi-  oilier  of  certain  specified  ports,  as.  for  instance.  Victoria.  1'ort 
Towiisend.  Honolulu.  Hakodate,  and  Vladi  vostocU. 

('- ,  Thai  such  annual  clearances  or  licenses  be  not  issued  before  a  "Jven  date  i  say 
1st  of  May  •.  and  that  certain  license  fees  be  exacted.  Such,  license  fees  to  lie  col- 
lected l>\  the  customs  authorities  of  the  licensing  (ioveri i  men  t ,  and  to  be  eventually 
transferred,  in  whole  or  in  parr,  proportionately,  To  the  ( Jovernments  protecting  the 
breeding  island-,  to  ^o  to\\ard  meeting  the  cost  of  ibis  protection. 

:!  That  no  vessel  should  seal  in  I'.ering  Sea  before  some  lixed  date  tsa\  1st  of 
•  Inly.)  in  each  year,  and  that  vessels  intending  to  seal  in  llerinu  Sea  should  report 
either  to  thelnitcd  States  or  to  the  Russian  aut  horii  ies  on  or  a  ft  er  1  hat  date  at 
named  ports,  such  as  1'  na  la  ska  or  I'etropavlovsk. 

<  1'  Thai  all  duly  licensed  sealing  vessels  should  be  required  to  il\  a  distinctive 
Man.  and  that  anv  unlicensed  \cssel  found  en^'a^ed  in  scaling  should  be  subject  to 
cert  ain  pena  It  ie.-. 

:,  That  a  /one  of  protected  waters  should  be  established  about  the  breeding 
islaniU.  \\  itli:n  wliich  no  sealing  should  under  any  circumstances  be  j»ennitted. 


Hi!'.  In  the  foregoing  remarks  on  the  measures  a\'ailable  for  t  he  protect  ion  and 
jircser\  a  1  iop  ot'  t  he  fur  sea  1  of  the  Nort  h  I'acitic.  re  I  ere  nee  is  made  throughout  espc- 
ciall',  tu  the  eastern  par!  of  thai  oec.iii.  including  nn-re  pa  rt  icii  la  rl  \'  the  area  com- 
prised in  i  he  i  anuc  of  t  hose  fur  si>als  ol  \\  h  \<-\\  the  summer  haunts  and  breed  in  u'  places 
are  about  or  mi  the  J:rihih>f  Islands,  and  of  which  the  winter  home  is  found  espe- 
cially off  the  coast  of  Uritish  Columbia.  It  is  evident.  ho\\ever.  that  the  same, 
remarks  and  recommendations  appiv  enuallv  to  those  fur  seals  which  in  summer 
cent  er  a  hou  t  t  he  (  'omiiia  mb-r  Islands  and  in  winter  freq  iieii  I  I  lie  sea^  «>|f  the  eoasl  of 
.lapa  n . 

17".  It  mav  be  stated,  further,  that  no  svstem  of  control  can  be  considered  as 
absulutelv  coni]ilcte  and  effective  which  does  not  include  under  common  regulations 
all  parts  of  the  North  I'aeilic,  and  that  the  facilitv  of  execution  of  measures  and 
their  efficiency  would,  under  any  system  of  regulations,  be  much  im-p-ased  by  the, 
co  i  MM  irrcnt  act  ion  of  (Jn-at  Britain,  the  I 'nitc<|  St  ates,  l»  ussia.  and  Japan,  as  indicated 
in  the  message  ot'  the  I'resjd.eut  of  the  I  nitcd  Stales  in  IN*!'.  Apart  from  the  fact, 
that  vessels  prevented  from  sealing  at  ^iveii  dales  in  certain  areas  miuht  at  these 
tiims  Iretiiieiit  other  \\ateis  in  inereased  numbers,  the  circumstance  that  there  is  ;i 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  109 

certain  though  uot  fully  known  interrelation  and  interchange  of  seals  between  the 
eastern  and  western  breeding  islands  of  Bering  Sea  points  very  clearly  to  the  advis- 
ability of  such  cooperation  in  protection.  (Keport  of  British  Bering  Sea  Commis- 
sioners, p.  25.) 

The  most  casual  observer  will  see  at  a  glance  that  the  commission- 
ers7 suggestions  are  all  in  favor  of  the  pelagic  sealer  and  his  " industry," 
and  against  the  United  States  and  the  seals.  That  the  public  at  large 
may  see  this  as  1  see  it,  I  will  briefly  review  a  tew  of  the  most  prominent 
points  suggested. 

The  commissioners  say: 

The  maximum  number  of  seals  to  be  taken  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  to  be  fixed  at 
50,000. 

That  is  to  say,  the  United  States  must  agree  to  reduce  their  catch  on 
land  one  half,  to  begin  with,  and  the  suggestion,  remember,  was  made 
long  after  it  was  known  that  the  pelagic  sealers  had  captured  78,000 
seals  in  1891. 

They  continue : 

A  zone  of  protected  waters  to  be  established,  extending  to  ti  distance  of  20  nautical 
miles  from  the  islands. 

As  the  largest  catches  are  made  at  distances  of  from  80  to  200  miles 
from  the  islands,  and  as  the  commissioners  were  well  aware  of  that  fact 
when  they  made  the  suggestion,  its  worthlessness  may  be  understood 
so  far  as  the  protection  and  safety  of  the  seals  go. 

Again,  they  suggest: 

A  close  season  to  be  provided,  extending  from  the  15th  of  September  to  the  1st  of 
May  in  each  year,  during  which  all  killing  of  seals  shall  be  prohibited,  with  the 
additional  provision  that  no  sealing  vessel  shall' enter  Bering  Sea  before  the  1st  of 

.July  in  each  year. 

As  the  killing  season  never  did  open  on  the  islands  till  June,  and 
always  closed  on  or  before  August  10  (excepting  the  few  seals  killed 
from  time  to  time  for  natives'  food),  and  as  it  is  from  May  to  October  that 
protection  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  seal  herd; 
and  as  the  pelagic  sealer  hardly  ever  enters  Bering  Sea  before  July  it 
is  difficult  to  see  how  the  "suggestion"  could  benefit  the  United  States 
or  save  the  seals. 

The  next  " suggestion"  deserves  careful  attention,  for  it  is  the  key- 
note of  the  whole  superstructure  raised  by  the  commissioners,  who  say: 

Respecting  the  compensatory  feature  of  such  specific  regulations,  it  is  believed 
that  a  just  scale  of  equivalency  as  between  shore  and  sea  sealing  would  be  found, 
and  a  complete  check  established  against  any  undue  diminution  of  seals,  by  adopt- 
ing the  following  as  a  unit  of  compensatory  regulation:  For  each  decrease  of  10,000 
in  the  number  fixed  for  killing  on  the  islands,  an  increase  of  10  nautical  miles  to  be 
given  to  the  width  of  protected  waters  about  the  islands.  The  minimum  number  to 
be  fixed  for  killing  on  the  islands  to  be  10,000,  corresponding  to  a  maximum  width 
of  protected  waters  of  60  nautical  miles.  , 

Here  they  make  the  pelagic  sealer  the  senior  partner  in  the  fur-seal 
"industry,"  and  the  repressive  part  of  the  " suggestion"  is  intended 
for  the  United  States  only. 

The  situation  at  the  start  is  to  be  something  like  this:  The  United 
States  are  to  kill  not  to  exceed  50,000  seals,  and  the  pelagic  sealer  is 
not  to  approach  the  breeding  islands  nearer  than  20  nautical  miles. 
Then  for  every  additional  10  miles  we  would  remove  the  pelagic  sealer 
we  must  reduce  our  catch  on  shore  by  10,000,  so  that  by  the  time  he  is 
60  miles  away  our  maximum  catch  is  to  be  10,000. 

The  first  thought  that  suggests  itself  here  is,  What  would  happen 
were  we  to  ask  him  for  a  protected  zone  of  70  miles  from  the  seal 


110  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIB1LOF    ISLANDS. 

islands.'  Logically,  we  would  have  to  stop  killing  on  the  islands  alto- 
gether and  turn  them  into  breeding  grounds  for  the  use  of  a  class  of 
sportsmen  who  are  fond  of  the  manly  art  of  hunting  gravid  female 
seals  and  cutting  out  their  unborn  young. 

Turning  to  the  ''alternative  methods  of  regulation"*  suggested  by 
the  commissioners  we  find  that  they,  too,  were  possessed  of  the  same 
thought,  for  they  •' suggest  :r 

Entile  prohibition  of  killing  on  one  of  the  breeding  islands,  with  suitable  con- 
current regulations  at  sea.  The  entire  reservation  and  protection  of  one  of  the  two 
larger  islands  of  the  1'ribilof  group,  either  >t.  1'aul  or  St.  <Jeorge  Island,  might  be 
assured:  such  island  to  be  maintained  as  an  undisturbed  breeding  place,  upon  which 
no  seals  shall  be  killed  for  any  purpose.  On  the  remaining  islands  the  number  of 
seals  killed  for  commercial  purposes  would  remain  wholly  under  the  control  of  the 
Government  of  the  I'niteu  States. 

In  consideration  of  the  guaranteed  preservation  of  a  breeding  island,  with  the 
purpose  of  insuring  the  continuance  of  the  seal  stock  in  the  common  interest,  a  /.one 
of  protected  waters  might  be  established  about  the  I'ribilof  Islands,  such 

provisions  at  sea  to  have,  as  far  as  possible,  quanti  valcnt  relation  to  those  established 
on  the  breeding  islands.  ^See  section  KM.) 

<! rowing  bolder  and  bolder  as  they  proceed  they  finally  come  for- 
ward with  a  suggestion,  which,  for  downright  coolness,  may  well  claim 
"first  place"  among  all  the  cool  propositions  made  in  any  age  or  coun- 
try; it  is  nothing  less  than  the  ''total  prohibition  of  killing  on  the  breed- 
ing islands,  with  concurrent  strict  regulation  of  pelagic  sealing."' 

Here,  at  last,  the  mask  is  thrown  off  and  the  commissioners  stand 
forth  in  their  true  character  of  "advocates"  for  the  pelagic  sealer  and 
apologists  for  his  horrible  methods. 

It  does  not  take  long  to  get  at  the  meaning  of  the  "suggestions" 
offered,  for  a  careful  reading  shows  at  once  the  whole  animus  of  the 
thing  is  to  prevent  the  killing  of  seals  on  the  seal  islands,  and  to  turn 
the  whole  herd  over  to  the  pelagic  sealer. 

Had  the  most  heartless  of  all  the  pelagic  sealers  been  given  carte 
blanche  to  write  suggestions,  the  adoption  of  which  would  inure  to  his 
own  bonolit,  he  could  not  improve  on  those  of  the  British  Bering  Sea 
commissioners. 

This  may  seem  to  be  a  hard  saying,  but.  from  the  testimony  given  by 
the  pelagic  sealers  themselves,  it  is  well  known  that  the  killing  of 
female  seals  anywhere  is  sure  destruction  to  the  herd;  and  the  British 
commissioners  have  admitted  it  to  be  on  more  than  one  occasion. 

Speaking  of  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  the  seals  at  sea.  they  say: 

But  it  is  unfortunately  the  case  that  at  certain  seasons  considerable  numbers  of 
gravid  females  arc  thus  killed,  and  this  killing  is  deprecated  by  the  better  classes 
of  the  pelagic  sealers  themselves,  not  alone  on  grounds  of  humanity,  but  because 
they  see  clearly  that  it  is  unduly  destructive  to  the  industry  in  which  their  fortunes 
are  embarked.  (  Report  of  British  Bering  Sea  commissioners,  section  (i!>!>,  p.  109.) 

And  yet  the  gentlemen  who  say  so  are  the  same  men  who  have 
"suggested"  the  "total  prohibition  of  killing  on  the  breeding  islands'7 
and  the  turning  over  of  the,  seals  to  indiscriminate  slaughter. 

The  commissioners  were  instructed  to  ascertain: 

First.  The  actual  facts  as  regards  the  alleged  serious  diminution  of  seal  life  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands,  the  date  at  which  such  diminution  began,  the  rate  of  its  progress, 
and  any  previous  instance  of  a  similar  occurrence. 

Second.  The  causes  of  such  diminution;  whether,  and  to  what  extent,  it  is 
attributa  hie — 

(a)  To  a  migration  of  the  seals  to  other  rookeries. 

(h)  'I  o  the  method  of  killing  pursued  on  the  islands  themselves. 

(c)  To  the  increase  of  sealing  upon  the  high  seas,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  i» 
pursued. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  Ill 

And  then  they  were  admonished  as  follows: 

I  need  scarcely  remind  you  that,  your  invrstigai  ion  should  be  carried  on  with  strict 
impartiality,  that  you  should  neglect  no  sources  of  information  which  may  he  likely 
to  assist  you  in  arriving  at  a  sound  conclusion,  and  that  great  care  should  he  taken, 
to  sift  the  evidence  that  is  brought  before  you. 

It  is  equally  to  the  interest  of  all  the  (Governments  concerned  in  the  sealing  industry 
that  it  should  be  protected  from  all  serious  risk  of  extinction  in  consequence  of  the 
use  of  wasteful  and  injudicious  methods.  (British  Bering  Sea  Commissioners'  report,, 
p.  2.) 

To  which  they  replied  as  follows: 

To  the  (Jut'en'*  M<t*t  l-'.j't-cUcnt  Majexhj: 

May  it>  please  Your  Majesty,  we,  Your  Majesty's  commissioners,  appointed  to  under- 
take an  inquiry  ihto  the  condition  of  seal  life  and  the  precautions  necessary  for  pre- 
venting the  extermination  of  the  fur-seal  species  in  Bering  Sea  and  other  parts  of 
the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  beg  to  submit  the  following  report. 

Wherefore,  in  carrying  out  the  terms  of  our  commission,  it  has  been  our  object  to 
acquire  and  record  the  most  complete  information  available,  in  order  to  promote,  in 
the  true  interests  of  all  concerned  an  equitable,  impartial,  and  mutually  satisfac- 
tory adjustment  of  the  questions  at  issue.  (  British  Bering  Sea  ( 'ommissiouers'  leport, 
p.  30 

When  Mr.  Elliott  was  urging  the  appointment  of  a  joint  commission, 
as  the  remedy  for  all  our  troubles  on  the  seal  islands,  he  addressed  the 
Secretary  of  State  as  follows: 

NOVKMBKK  22,  1890. 

MY  DKAR  MR.  BLAINK:  We  must  take  some  of  the  best  British  repre- 

sentation  up  to  the  islands  and  let  it  see  the  wreck  and  ruin  thereon. 

I  have  no  fear  of  the  result;  these  Englishmen  will  return  our  friends,  and  work 
in  harmony  with  us  in  the  labor  of  saving  these  anomalous  interests  from  their 
impending  ruin. 

I  believe  that  subsequent  events  have  shown  him  that  his  faith  was 
misplaced,  to  say  the  least,  unless  we  can  fully  appreciate  the  kindness 
with  which  they  propose  to  prohibit  all  killing  on  the  islands  and  assume 
the  whole  burden  themselves. 

Had  they  suggested  the  prohibition  of  all  pelagic  sealing  and  an  even 
division  between  the  nations  interested  of  the  burdens,  expenses,  and 
proceeds  resulting  from  a  strict  and  constant  protection  of  the  breeding 
islands  there  would  be  some  semblance  of  justice  and  right  as  well  as  a 
desire  to  perpetuate  the  seals  indefinitely;  but  the  suggestion  that  the 
United  States  shall  be  forbidden  TO  kill  seals  ashore  and  that  the  islands 
must  be  turned  into  breeding  grounds  for  the  sake  of  the  pelagic  sealer 
is  so  repugnant  to  common  sense  and  decency  that  were  not  the  com- 
missioners' report  at  my  hand  I  should  not  believe  they  could  have  been 
guilty  of  making  such  a  suggestion  under  any  circumstances,  but 
especially  under  the  plea  of  protecting  and  perpetuating  the  fur  seals. 

Had  they  attempted  to  prove  the  wastefulness  of  present  methods, 
or  had  they  quoted  the  testimony  of  one  honest  and  disinterested  per- 
son to  show  that  American  management  of  the  seals  on  the  islands  had 
ever  been  inimical  to  their  increase  and  improvement,  there  would  be 
some  excuse  for  the  suggestions  offered,  but  it  was  beyond  their  power 
to  produce  testimony  of  that  sort. 

Therefore,  I  deem  the  remarks  of  the  American  counsel  at  Paris  on 
this  point  as  most  just  and  opportune,  and  as  they  express  my  own  views 
much  better  than  my  own  feeble  w^ords  can  possibly  do  it  I  quote  them 
as  follows : 

We  are  reluctant  to  make  any  reference  to  motives;  but  where  opinions  are,  as  in 
this  case,  made  evidence,  the  question  of  good  faith  is  necessarily  relevant.  Why  is 
it  that  these  commissioners  have  chosen  to  disregard  the  plain  dictates  of  reason 
and  natural  laws  which  they  were  bound  to  accept,  and  to  recommend  some  cheap 
devices  in  their  place,  when  they  so  clearly  perceived  those  dictates?  We  are  not 
permitted  to  think  that  this  was  in  conscious  violation  of  duty,  if  any  other  explana- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

tion  is  possible.  The  only  apology  we  can  find  comes  from  the  fact,  clearly  appar- 
ent upon  nearly  every  page  of  their  report,  that  the  predominating  interest  which 
they  conceived  themselves  bound  to  regard  was  not  the  preservation  of  the  seals, 
but  the  protection  of  the  Canadian  sealers.  This  explanation  at  once  accounts  for 
all  their  extraordinary  recommendations,  and  all  their  varying  inconsistencies. 
Hence,  every  degree  of  restraint  upon  pelagic  sealing  is  reluctantly  conceded,  and 
yielded  only  when  it  is  compensated  for,  and  more  than  compensated  for,  by  an 
added  restriction  of  the  supply  furnished  to  the  market  from  the  breeding  islands. 
As  the  work  of  the  pelagic  sealers  is  ou  the  one  hand  restricted  in  time  or  place,  and 
thus  discouraged,  it  is  on  the  other  stimulated  by  the  certainty  of  a  better  market 
and  a  richer  reward.  So  persistently  and  exclusively  have  they  kept  this  policy 
before  them  as  their  main  object,  that  an  ideal  has  been  formed  in  their  minds  which 
they  openly  avow,  and  to  attain  which  is  their  constant  effort.  This  ideal  is  that 
all  taking  of  seals  on  land  should  be  prohibited,  and  pelagic  sealing  be  made  the 
only  lawful  mode  of  capture. 

They  thus  express  themselves:  "It  has  been  pointed  out.  and  we  believe  it  to  be 
probable,  that  if  alJ  killing  of  seals  were  prohibited  on  fche  breeding  islands,  and 
these  were  strictly  protected  and  safe-guarded  against  encroachment  of  any  kind, 
sealing  at  sea  might  be  indefinitely  continued  without  any  notable  diminution,  in 
consequence  of  the  self  regulative  tendency  of  this  industry." 

And  suggesting,  as  the  only  objection  to  this  policy  which  occurs  to  them,  that  it 
might  be  too  much  to  expect  of  the  United  States  to  thus  guard  the  islands  and  sup- 
port a  native  population  of  300  at  its  own  expense,  they  continue :  "It  may  be  noted, 
however,  that  some  such  arrangement  would  offer,  perhaps,  the  best  and  simplest 
solution  of  the  present  conflict  of  interests,  for  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
would  still  have  equal  rights  with  all  others  to  take  seals  at  sea,  and  in  consequence 
of  the  proximity  of  their  territory  to  the  sealing  grounds  they  would  probably 
become  the  principal  beneficiaries.7' 

And  they  finally  come  to  the  conclusion  that  any  taking  of  seals  at  the  breeding 
places  is  an  error  for  which  there  is  no  defense  except  long  usage,  and  even  that 
they  regard  as  a  doubtful  apology.  They  say : 

"While  the  circumstance  that  long  usage  may,  in  a  measure,  be  considered  as 
justifying  the  custom  of  killing  fur  seals  on  the  breeding  islands,  many  facts  now 
known  respecting  the  life  history  of  the  animal  itself,  with  valid  inferences  drawn 
from  the  results  of  the  disturbance  of  other  animals  upon  their  breeding  places,  as 
well  as  those  made  obvious  bjT  the  new  conditions  which  have  arisen  in  consequence 
of  the  development  of  pelagic  sealing,  point  to  the  conclusion  that  the  breeding 
islands  should,  if  possible,  remain  undisturbed  and  inviolate." 

These  references  to  the  opinions  expressed  in  the  report  of  the  commissioners  of 
Great  Britain,  when  taken  together  with  the  scheme  recommended  by  them,  leave 
no  room  for  doubt  that  the  defense  of  the  Canadian  sealers  was  from  first  to  last, 
their  predominating  motive,  and  enable  us  to  make  for  them  the  apology  that  they 
conceived  that  this  was  the  duty  with  which  they  were  especially  charged.  If  this 
be  the  fact,  it  is  easy  to  perceive  how  all  their  reasonings  and  recommendations 
should  receive  a  color  and  character.  We  feel  obliged  to  say  that  we  can  perceive 
nD  other  ground  upon  which  their  action  may  be  made  consistent  with 'good  faith. 
(Argument  of  the  United  States,  p.  209.) 

*##*### 

The  real  conflict  between  the  report  of  the  British  commissioners  and  the  case  of 
the  United  States  seems  to  be  as  to  the  number  of  cows  in  a  harein.  The  British 
commissioners  assert  that  the  number  is  unduly  large  of  cows  served  by  one  bull; 
the  United  States  produce  credible  and  experienced  witnesses  to  show  that,  on  the 
contrary,  the  number  of  females  is  decreasing.  A  comparison  is  invited  between 
the  two  statements  and  the  quality  of  proof  adduced  in  favor  of  each.  It  is  plain 
that  the  British  commissioners  could  not  admit  the  diminution  in  number  of  female 
seals  without  admitting  that  decrease  to  be  wholly  due  to  pelagic  slaughter.  They 
are  therefore  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  insisting  that  there  is  a  redundancy  of 
females  and  a  deficit  of  males  on  the  islands.  They  are  kind  enough  to  admit,  how- 
ever, that  "the  sparing  of  females  in  a  degree  prevented,  for  the  time  being,  the 
actual  depletion  of  seals  on  the  islands"  (section  58).  It  is  not  probable  that  any 
reasonable  person  will  take  issue  with  them  on  that  point.  The  intelligence  and 
legislation  of  the  civilized  world,  not  to  speak  of  humanity  iu  its  broad  sense,  have 
concurred  that  to  spare  the  female  was  not  the  best  but  the  only  effective  method  of 
preventing  depletion  and  eventual  extermination. 

Even  if  we  should  concede,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument  and  in  direct  disregard 
of  the  fact,  that  the  diminution  is  due  to  the  smaller  number  of  males,  we  would 
venture  to  remind  this  high  tribunal,  if  such  a  reminder  were  needed,  that  the 
pirates  or  poachers  who  pursue  and  slaughter  the  pregnant  and  nursing  females  are 
killing,  by  starvation  in  the  one  case,  by  the  mother's  death  in  the  other,  a  large 
number  of  males.  Even,  according  to  their  own  showing,  the  British  commissioners 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  113 

must  realize  that  pelagic  sealing  is  responsible,  to  some  extent  at  least,  for  the 
decrease  in  the  number  of  males,  as  well  as  of  females.  They  may  speak  of  this 
"  industry,"  as  they  term  it,  and  glorify  it  as  requiring  all  the  courage  and  skill 
which  caii  be  brought  to  bear  on  it  (whatever  that  may  mean).  (Section  609.) 
They  may  contrast  its  ''sportsmanlike"  character  with  the  "butchery"  committed 
on  the  islands  (section  HID);  but  they  can  not  i'aiJ  to  perceive  that  the  mode  of 
destruction,  which  principally  deals  with  gravid  females,  necessarily  strikes  at  the 
very  foundation  of  life,  and  must  eventually  extinguish  the  race,  because,  as  they 
mildly  state  it,  it  is  unduly  destructive  (section  633). 

The  pelagic  sealer  nob  only  kills  or  attempts  to  kill  the  males  that  he  happens  to 
meet,  but  prevents  the  birth  of  males  to  take  their  place.  He  often  kills  three  with 
one  discharge  of  his  ritle,  \\/.,  the  mother,  the  unborn  young,  and  the  pup  at  home; 
but  he  docs  it  in  a  "sportsmanlike"  manner,  and  he  gives  the  sleeping  animal  a  "  fair 
sporting  chance  for  its  life."  (Section  610.)  In  many  cases  he  either  misses  his 
object  or  wounds  it  and  loses  it.  So  that  there  is  by  this  manly  process  an  utterly 
useless  waste  of  life,  in  many  cases  a  waste  more  or  less  appalling  as  the  "  sportsman" 
is  more  or  less  skillful.  How  destructive  in  reality  this  process  is  proven  to  be  may 
be  seen  from  the  British  commissioners'  report  under  the  head  of  "  Proportion  of 
seaK  lost  "  (p.  101,  section  603).  It  must  be  a  consolation  to  those  disposed  to  extol 
this  kind  of  sport  that  while  nearly  "all  the  pelagic  sealers  concur  in  the  opinion 
that  the  fur  seal  is  annually  becoming  more  shy  and  wary  at  sea,"  it  is  certain  that 
"the  dexterity  of  the  hunters  has  been  increased  pari  passu  with  the  wariness  of 
the  seals.7'  (British  commissioners7  report,  section  401.) 

That  the  number  of  the  seals  has  been  diminished  in  recent  years  at  a  cumulative 
rate  and  that  such  diminution  is  the  consequence  of  destruction  by  man  is  certified  by 
the  joint  report  of  all  the  commissioners.  That  this  human  agency  is  pelagic  sealing 
exclusively,  and  not  the  mode,  manner,  or  extent  of  capture  upon  the  breeding 
islands,  is  abundantly  clear. 

This  follows  necessarily  from  admitted  facts.  The  fur  seals  being  polygamous, 
and  each  male  sufficient  for  from  30  to  50  females,  and  being  able  to  secure  to  himself 
that  number,  it  follows  that  there  must  be  at  all  times  a  larger  number  of  super- 
fluous males,  and  the  killing  of  them  produces  no  permanent  diminution  of  the 
number  of  the  herd.  On  the  other  hand,  the  killing  of  a  single  breeding  female 
necessarily  reduces  pro  tanto  the  normal  numbers. 

An  excessive  killing  of  males  might  indeed  tend  toward  a  decrease  if  carried  to 
such  an  extent  as  not  to  leave  enough  for  the  purpose  of  effectual  impregnation  of 
all  the  breeding  females.  The  taking  from  these  herds  of  100,000  males  would  not, 
if  that  were  the  only  draft  allowed,  be  excessive.  This  is  evident  from  many  con- 
siderations. 

(a)  Those  who,  like  the  British  commissioners,  propose  to  allow  pelagic  sealing  to 
such  an  extent  as  would  involve  the  annual  slaughter  of  at  least  50,000  females  in 
addition  to  a  slaughter  of  50,000  young  males  on  the  breeding  islands  can  not  cer- 
tainly with  the  least  consistency  assert  that  the  capture  limited  to  100,000  males 
would  be  excessive.  Nor  could  they  consistently  assert,  this,  even  though  the  pelagic 
slaughter  should  be  restricted  (by  some  means  which  no  one  has  yet  suggested)  to 
10,000  females.  It  requires  no  argument  to  show  that  the  destruction  of  even  that 
number  would  be  rapidly  disastrous  to  the  herds. 

(fe)  And  when  we  turn  to  the  proofs,  they  are  conclusive  that  prior  to  the  practice 
upon  any  considerable  scale  of  pelagic  sealing  the  annual  draft  of  100,000  young 
males  did  not  tend  to  a  diminution  of  numbers. 

(c)  Of  course,  it  is  easily  possible  that  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  effected  by 
pelagic  sealing  may  soon  so  far  reduce  the  birth  rate  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  obtain 
the  annual  draft  of  100,000  young  males.  This  draft,  under  such  circumstances, 
would  necessarily  at  once  diminish  the  birth  rate,  for,  the  number  of  females  being 
less,  a  less  number  of  males  would  be  required.  The  number  of  the  whole  herd 
might  be  rapidly  diminished  by  the  slaughter  of  females  and  the  consequent  diminu- 
tion of  the  birth  rate  and  still'100,000  males  continue  to  be  taken  for  a  time  without 
damage.  How  soon  a  point  would  he  reached  at  which  so  large  a  draft  of  males 
from  a  constantly  diminishing  number  of  hirths  would  operate  to  produce  an  insuf- 
ficiency of  males  is  a  problem  which  from  want  of  precise  knowledge  of  the  relative 
numbers  of  the  sexes  it  would  be  difficult  to  solve. 

The  British  commissioners'  report  upon  this  subject  is  as  follows: 

"The  systematic  and  persistent  hunting  and  slaughter  of  the  fur  seal  of  the  North 
Pacific,  both  on  the  shore  and  at  sea,  has  naturally  and  inevitably  given  rise  to  cer- 
tain changes  in  the  habits  and  mode  of  life  of  thai;  animal,  which  are  of  importance 
not  only  in  themselves,  but  as  indicating  the  effects  of  such  pursuit  and  in  show- 
ing in  what  particular  this  is  injurious  to  seal  life  as  a  whole.  Such  changes  doubt- 
less began  more  than  a  century  ago,  and  some  of  them  may  be  traced  in  the  histor- 
ical precis  elsewhere  given  (section  782  et  seq.).  It  is  unfortunately  true,  however, 
that  the  disturbance  to  the  normal  course  of  seal  life  has  become  even  more  serious 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 8 


114  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBtLOF    ISLANDS. 

in  recent  years,  and  that  there  is  therefore  no  lack  of  material  from  which  to  study 
its  character  and  effect  even  at  the  present  time." 

In  the  zeal  of  their  advocacy  on  behalf  of  pelagic  sealing  and  their  denunciation 
of  the  methods  in  use  on  the  islands  the  commissioners  have  experienced  much  and 
evident  difficulty  in  framing  their  theory.  If  they  admitted,  in  unqualified  terms,  a 
decrease  in  number,  the  obvious  deduction  from  the  concession  would  be  that  the 
unlimited  slaughter  of  females  must  bear  the  blame  and  burden  of  such  a  result.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  should  assert  that  the  number  actually  increased,  this  would 
only  be  consistent  with  an  approval  of  the  methods  in  use  on  the  land.  Between 
this  Scylla  and  this  Chary bdis  a  way  of  escape  must  be  found,  and  it  was  found.  The 
ingenuity  here  displayed  deserves  full  notice  and  acknowledgment.  The  joint  report 
contains  this  statement: 

"  We  find  that  since  the  Alaska  purchase  a  marked  diminution  in  the  number  of 
seals  on  and  habitually  resorting  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  has  taken  place,  that  it  has 
been  cumulative  in  effect,  and  that  it  is  the  result  of  excessive  killing  by  man." 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  fur  seals  forming  the  object  of  this  controversy  have  no 
other  home  on  laud  than  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  that  the  British  commissioners  them- 
selves concede  that  they,  for  the  most  part,  breed  on  those  islands;  bearing  in  mind, 
too,  that  these  gentlemen  have  not  yet  discovered  any  other  summer  habitat  lor  the 
seals,  it  would  seem  that  this  declaration  is  equivalent,  in  its  fair  sense  and  meaning, 
to  a  statement  that  the  fur  seals  that  frequent  the  American  coast  and  the  Bering 
Sea  have  suffered  a  marked  decrease. 

Perhaps  it  was  so  intended  by  the  British,  as  it  was  by  the  United  States  commis- 
sioners; but  if  so,  the  former  gentlemen  have  lost  sight  of  their  original  intention 
and  have  been  led  to  nice  distinctions,  which  we  shall  now  examine. 

That  the  seal,  although  "essentially  pelagic"  (section  26),  has  not  yet  learned  to 
breed  at  sea  is  not  denied,  although  to  the  vision  of  the  commissioners  the  prospect 
of  such  a  transformation  or  evolution  is  evidently  not  very  remote.  We  must,  in 
justice  to  them,  quote  one  single  passage,  which  admirably  illustrates  the  compla- 
cency and  self-confidence  with  which  they  wrest  to  their  own  purposes  with  unhesi- 
tating violence  the  laws  of  nature  and  the  mysteries  of  ulterior  evolution.  If  this 
quotation  does  not  give  a  just  idea  of  the 'imaginative  powers  of  these  officials 
nothing  but  a  perusal  of  the  whole  of  their  work  will  do  them  justice: 

"The  changes  in  the  habits  and  mode  of  life  of  the  seals  naturally  divide  them- 
selves into  two  classes,  which  may  be  considered  separately.  The  first  and  most 
direct  and  palpable  of  these  is  that  shown  in  the  increased  shyness  and  wariness  of 
the  animal,  which,  though  always  pelagic  in  its  nature,  has  been  forced  by  circum- 
stances to  shun  the  land  more  than  before,  so  that  but  for  the  necessity  imposed  upon 
it  of  seeking  the  shore  at  the  season  of  birth  of  the  young  it  might  probably  ere 
this  have  become  entirely  pelagic." 

An  animal  "always  pelagic,"  forced  by  circumstances  to  shun  the  land  more  than 
before,  and  which  would  become  entirely  pelagic  long  before  this  if  it  were  not 
obliged  to  seek  the  shore  for  so  trifling  an  object  as  giving  birth  to  its  young,  deserves 
to  be  classed  among  the  curiosities  of  nature.  The  difference  between  animals  (now) 
always  pelagic  and  those  (in  the  future)  entirely  pelagic  may  not  readily  be  under- 
stood without  explanation  not  vouchsafed.  How  can  they  be  always  pelagic  if  they 
are  obliged  to  seek  the  land  or  perish,  and  why  is  it  reasonable  to  talk  of  the  prob- 
ability of  their  becoming  something  different  from  what  they  are  when  that  con- 
jecture is  based  upon  nothing  but  reckless  and  grotesque  assumption?  Of  course, 
this  and  other  specimens  of  affront  to  common  sense  are  merely  gratuitous  andU 
pointless  vagaries.  But  the  thesis  must  be  sustained,  viz,  that  the  seals  are  not 
even  amphibious  animals;  their  resort  to  land  is  a  merely  accidental  necessity,  and 
therefore  the  United  States  can  no  more  claim  a  right  to  or  possession  in  them  than 
in  other  "essentially  pelagic  animals,"  such  as  the  whale,  the  codfish,  or  the  turbot. 

If  anything  more  were  needed  to  emphasize  the  absurdity  of  this  defiance  of  well- 
known  facts  and  settled  distinctions  in  the  animal  world  we  might  still  further  citej 
the  British  commissioners  on  the  subject  of  the  seal  pelage  or  shedding  of  hair.     It 
seems  that  these  pelagic  animals  were  not  endowed  by  nature  with  the  proper  skin  ; 
to  perform  this  function  in  their  native  element.     Unless  they  can  find  a  suitable 
place  out  of  water  they  retain  the  old  hair  and  disregard  the  laws  which  would  coi  1 1 1  >el 
an  annual  shedding.     Lest  J1  ' 
Grebnitsky:  "During  the' 
to  afford  a  suitable  protectioi 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  theory,  so  gravely  and  seriously  advaiiced,i 
that  the  seal  is  naturally  and  essentially  a  pelagic  animal,  is  utterly  unsustaiued  byj 
evidence,  is  refuted  by  the  language  of  the  commissioners  themselves,  and  disputed 
by  elementary  writers.  It  is  only  necessary  to  ascertain  how  naturalists  define 
pelagic  animals  and  then  compare  such  definition  with  the  known  characteristics 
and  rudimentary  elements  of  seal  life  (see  especially  for  this  the  books  of  Johns  Hop- 
kins University).  Besides,  the  unanimous  and  unquestioned  testimony  of  the  agents^ 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  115 

for  the  Government  and  the  lessees  shows   that  the  fur  seals  spend  at  least  four 
months  of  the  year  on  the  I'rihilof  Islands. 

Having  found,  with  the  American  commissioners,  a  marked  diminution  in  thenum- 
ber  of  seals  on  and  habitually  resorting  to  the  Pribilol  Islands,  the  British  commis- 
sioners proceed  to  show  that  the  seals  are  more  numerous  than  ever.  They  have, 
no  doubt,  demonstrated  this  to  their  entire  satisfaction  on  pages  72  and  73  of  their 
report.  Captain  Warren  they  quote  as  saying  that  he  noticed  no  diminution  in  the 
number  of  seals  during  the  twenty  years  that  he  had  been  in  that  business,  and,  if 
any  change  at  all,  an  increase  (section  403).  To  the  same  effect  Captain  Leary,  who 
says  that  in  Bering  Sea  they  were  more  numerous  tban  he  had  ever  seen  them  (sec- 
tion 103),  while  Mr.  Milne,  collector  of  customs  at  Victoria,  reports,  what  others 
have  said  to  him.  that  owners  and  masters  do  not  entertain  the  slightest  idea  that 
the  seals  are  scarce  (section  403).  What  a  tribute  this  must  be  to  the  managemeutof 
the  Pribiiof  Islands  if,  notwithstanding  the  conceded  destruction  of  gravid  and  nurs- 
ing females,  these  statements  should  be  true.  ('apt.  W.  Cox  took  1,000  seals  in  four 
days  100  miles  to  the  westward  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  (section  40.1).  He,  found  the 
seals  much  more  plentiful  in  Bering  Sea  than  he  had  ever  seen  them  before.  It  would 
have  added  much  to  the  interest  of  Captain  Cox's  statement  if  he  had  told  us  how 
many  of  these  seals  ga\  e  evidence  of  having  left  their  pups  at  home. 

The  British  commissioners  multiply  the  evidence  to  show  that  the  general  experi- 
ence as  stated  to  them  has  been  that  seals  were  equally  or  more  abundant  at  sea  at 
the  time  of  rheir  extermination  than  they  had  been  in  former  years.  It  is  difficult 
to  treat  this  with  the  respect  that  a  report  emanating  from  gentlemen  of  character 
and  high  official  position  should  meet.  Either  the  statement  in  the  joint  report  is 
true  and  the  assumption  of  an  increase  is  untrue,  or  vice  versa.  In  view  of  the  evi- 
dence that  these  seals  have  no  other  home  than  the  1'ribilof  Islands,  it  is  plain, 
beyond  the  necessity  of  demonstration,  that  all  the  seals  killed  by  Captain  Cox  and 
others  in  the  Bering  Sea  were  inhabitants  of  those  islands,  and  the  testimony  only 
goes  to  show  that  the  mothers  do  go  out  to  sea  a  hundred  miles  or  more,  as  is  sworn 
to  by  the  witnesses  for  the  United  States,  and  that  it  is  while  they  are  on  the  feeding 
grounds,  or  searching  abroad  for  food,  that  they  are  captured  by  the  Canadian  poach- 
ers. If  this  is  not  so,  then  let  the  commissioners  or  those  advocating  their  views 
tell  us  where  these  seals  slaughtered  by  Captain  Cox  and  others  found  their  "sum- 
mer habitat." 

Any  pretense  that  the  seals  are  decreasing  at  home— i.  e.,  where  they  live  through 
the  summer,  and  breed,  and  nurse,  and  shed  their  hair — and  at  the  same  time  are 
increasing  in  the  sea  is  simply  an  absurdity.  It  would  have  added  much  to  the  value 
of  the  testimony  of  all  these  masters  if  they  had  not  sedulously  avoided  stating  the 
sex  of  the  animals  that  they  killed. 

There  is  one,  and  one  explanation  only,  of  this,  and  that  explanation  makes  the 
stories  above  quoted  plausible.  The  pelagic  sealers  were  engaged  in  hunting  nurs- 
ing mothers  on  the  feeding  grounds,  where  those  animals  are  found  in  large  numbers. 
The  decrease  proved,  and  indeed  admitted  to  exist  (see  joint  report),  had  not  yet 
been  so  great  as  to  be  manifest  to  those  sealers  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  fall  in 
with  a  number  of  females  either  intent  upon  finding  the  food  necessary  to  produce  a 
flow  of  milk  or  sleeping  on  the  surface  of  the  water  after  feeding. 

And  here  we  may  note  another  illustration  of  the  thesis  and  its  advocacy.  Having 
satisfied  themselves  that  pelagic  sealing  rather  operated  to  increase  the  supply  of 
seals  they  remembered  that  the  killing  of  young  males  was  objectionable  and  likely 
to  result  in  extermination,  and  thereupon  discovered  the  fact  that  "  a  meeting  of 
natives  was  held  "  at  which  the  aborigines  unanimously  expressed  the  opinion  that 
the  seals  had  diminished  and  would  continue  to  diminish  from  year  to  year  (an 
opinion,  too  plain,  we  think,  for  argument),  but  they  at  once  assign  the  reason,  which 
is  not  the  killing  of  many  females,  but  the  extraordinary  fact  that  "  all  the  male  seals 
had  been  slaughtered  without  allowing  any  to  come  to  maturity  upon  the  breeding 
grounds."  (Section  438.) 

Having  thus  proved  that  the  seals  were  in  a  flourishing  condition  of  increase,  and 
that  they  were  decreasing  in  an  alarming  degree,  the  conclusion  is  reached  that  the 
decrease  is  on  the  land  and  the  increase  in  the  water: 

••The  general  effect  of  these  changes  in  the  habits  of  the  seals  is  to  minimize  the 
Sliunber  to  be  seen  at  any  one  time  on  the  breeding  islands,  while  the  average  num- 
ber to  be  found  at  sea,  at  least  proportionately,  though  perhaps  in  face  of  a  general 
decrease  in  the  number  of  seals,  not  absolutely  increased."  (Section  445  of  British 
Commissioners'  Keport.) 

Would  it  be  irrelevant  to  inquire  what  was  the  "summer  habitat"  of  the  numer- 
ous seals  slaughtered  by  Captain  Warren,  Captain  Leary,  and  Captain  Cox?  Were 
they  not  all  of  the  Pribilof  family?  Did  not  the  commissioners,  who  quoted  Captain 
Cox  to  the  effect  that  he  had,  no  doubt  in  true  sportsmanlike  fashion,  with  a  shot- 
gun, killed  250  seals  a  day  for  four  days,  know  that  the  enormous  majority  of  these 
were  nursing  mothers  whose  pups  were  starving  at  home?  (Argument  of  the  United 
States,  p.  288.) 


116  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

PELAGIC  SEALING,  CLOSE  SEASON,  ETC. 

That  many  honest  and  patriotic  men  have  differed  in  their  opinions 
about  the  true  cause  of  the  destruction  and  threatened  total  extinction 
of  the  Alaskan  fur  seal  is  not  to  be  denied ;  for,  unfortunately,  the  rival 
interests  have  been  so  many  and  so  diverse,  and  the  seal  islands  are  so 
far  beyond  the  reach  and  ken  of  the  public,  that  it  has  been  very  diffi- 
cult to  get  at  the  plain  truth  of  the  matter  as  it  really  exists.  Above 
all  the  theories  advanced,  however,  there  are  two  facts  which  are  most 
intimately  connected  with  the  discussion,  which  never  should  be  lost 
sight  of  if  we  would  understand  the  matter  thoroughly. 

First.  That  from  1835,  when  the  Russians  first  prohibited  the  further 
killing  of  the  female  seals,  to  1884,  when  the  pelagic  sealers  became 
numerous  and  powerful,  the  seal  herds  grew  and  flourished  and  the 
rookeries  expanded  notwithstanding  long  drives  and  other  barbarous 
methods  continued  until  the  United  States  purchased  Alaska;  and  that 
from  1868  to  1886  an  average  annual  killing  of  100,000  young  males  was 
made  before  a  sign  of  decrease  or  diminution  appeared  on  the  islands. 

Second.  In  spite  of  all  that  has  been  said  and  reiterated  against  the 
lessees'  management  of  the  islands  and  the  methods  pursued  for  so 
many  years  in  caring  for  the  rookeries  and  the  seals,  in  driving  and 
killing,  and  the  waste  of  seal  life  resulting  therefrom,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  under  this  same  management  (which  has  been  the  same, 
practically  for  twenty-five  years),  the  seals  increased  steadily  from  1868 
to  1884,  or  until  the  pelagic  sealers  appeared  in  force  in  Bering  Sea. 

These  are  facts  that  have  been  proved  beyond  the  possibility  of  a 
doubt,  and  although  interested  or  meddlesome  parties  may  and  often 
do  make  wild  charges  and  unreliable  statements  about  bad  manage- 
ment, bad  methods,  and  barbarity  in  the  driving  and  killing  of  the  seals, 
there  is  not  a  shadow  of  truth  in  the  stories,  nor  has  any  honest  man 
who  ever  lived  on  the  seal  islands  ever  said  or  thought  of  anything  of 
the  sort. 

The  word  "  monopoly  "  is  often  used  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  odium 
on  the  seal  questionN^hen  facts  are  lacking,  but  the  truth  is  that,  despite 
all  the  wicked  and  idle  insinuations  thrown  out  in  that  way,  the  leasing 
of  the  seal  islands  to  a  responsible  company  was  the  best  as  well  as  the 
most  prudent  thing  the  Government  could  have  done  under  the  circum- 
stances, as  the  result  showed  before  the  pelagic  sealer  appeared  to  inter- 
fere with  the  prosperity  of  the  rookeries  which  had  been  fostered  and 
built  up  by  the  wise  management  of  the  lessees. 

As  an  answer  to  the  fault-finder  who  proclaims  the  destruction  of  the 
seals  through  the  mismanagement  of  a  monopoly,  I  will  quote  from  the 
island  records  the  number  of  seals  actually  killed  for  their  skins  on 
the  islands  during  the  twenty  years'  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company,  and  also  the  number  of  skins  which  were  rejected  or  lost 
out  of  all  that  were  killed. 

[Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  107,  Fifty-second  Congress,  second  session,  appendix.] 
Total  number  of  seals  killed  for  their  skins  by  the  lessees  from  1870  to  1889,  both  inclusive. 

S     Paul 1,463,907 

St.  George 318,120 


Total 1,782,027 

Total  number  of  skins  rejected  from  same. 

St.  Paul 2,480 

St.  George 628 

Total 3,108 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS.  117 

In  other  words,  for  every  1,000  seals  killed  by  the  lessees,  during 
their  twenty  years'  lease,  there  was  a  loss  of  If  skins. 

As  these  figures  were  compiled  by  me,  originally,  from  the  books 
kept  on  both  of  the  seal  islands,  I  know  they  can  not  be  denied  or  suc- 
cessfully contradicted,  and  I  respectfully  submit  them,  and  the  lesson 
they  teach,  to  the  most  careful  consideration  of  the  Department. 

Lest  some  critic  may  say  I  have  not  quoted  all  the  figures,  let  me  add 
right  here  that  I  am  speaking  of  the  large  young  males  which  were 
actually  killed  for  their  skins  to  make  up  the  lessees,  annual  quota,  and 
of  those  only. 

That  the  natives  killed,  for  food,  99,684  young  male  seals  during  the 
same  twenty  years  (in  addition  to  pups),  and  that  27,G90  of  the  skins 
were  rejected,  is  true;  but  the  lessees  are  notblamable  for  that,  for  they 
had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  it,  and  consequently  I  have  counted 
only  the  skins  of  the  seals  killed  during  the  regular  sealing  season  and 
before  the  seals  became  "  stagy." 

Most  of  the  seals  killed  for  natives7  food  were  taken  during  the 
"stagy"  season,  hence  the  rejection  of  so  many  of  the  skins. 

This  is  why  1  have  repeatedly  advised  in  this  and  former  reports 
that  no  killing  for  any  purpose  should  be  permitted  during  the  u  stagy" 
season. 

The  management  of  the  seal  islands,  and  the  care  bestowed  on  the 
seals  by  the  lessees  and  their  agents,  are  matters  of  history  into  which 
it  is  not  necessary  to  enter,  because  the  above  figures  show  far  more 
eloquently  and  conclusively  than  words  of  mine  could  that  that  must 
of  necessity  be  a  well  managed  business  which  can  make  such  a  show- 
in  ,u  at  the  end  of  twenty  years. 

Only  7  rejected  skins  out  of  every  4,000  seals  killed  is  a  record  for 
good  and  careful  management  that  the  lessees  may  very  well  be  proud 
of,  and  it  is  a  withering  reply  to  all  the  idle  story-tellers  who  have 
attempted  from  time  to  time  to  make  the  world  believe  that  careless- 
ness and  brutality  united  in  driving  the  seals  hurriedly  to  the  killing 
grounds,  leaving  hundreds  dead  on  the  road,  ancj/that  bad  manage- 
ment, corruption,  and  dishonesty  reigned  supreme  on  the  seal  islands. 

In  another  part  of  this  report  I  have  given  a  table  showing  the  num- 
ber of  seal  skins  actually  recorded  as  sold  as  a  result  of  pelagic  sealing 
from  1808  to  1894,  both  inclusive,  which  shows  the  gradual  increase  of 
the  catch  from  year  to  year  as  the  sealing  fleet  increased  in  numbers 
and  efficiency,  until  the  4,367  skins  taken  in  1868  have  grown  into 
121,143  in  1894. 

To  further  illustrate  the  growth  of  pelagic  sealing  and  the  havoc  it 
has  wrought  on  the  seal  herd  I  will  now  insert  another  table  comparing 
the  numbers  taken  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  with  those  taken  on  the  open 
sea  from  1890  to  1894,  both  inclusive. 


Tear. 

Official. 
Pribilof  Is- 
lands. 

Official,  pe- 
lagic catch, 
as  entered  in 
United  States 
and  Victoria 
(British  Co- 
lumbia) cus- 
tom-houses. 

A  s  corrected 
by  trade 
sale's,  adding 
skins  shipped 
via  Suez 
Canal. 

1890... 

20  995 

1891  

13  482 

6()  788 

a7K     ,MI() 

1892  

7'  "i40 

1893  

7  500 

7X  08T 

KtQ  fififl 

1894  

16  031 

121   143 

149   DO/) 

Total  

65  557 

•JQI     OOO 

4.71    fifift 

1 

a  Estimated. 


118  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Those  taken  on  the  islands,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  were  young 
males — the  surplus  males  of  the  herd,  those  taken  at  sea  were  taken 
indiscriminately,  without  regard  to  sex,  and  were  mostly  gravid  females 
or  nursing  mothers  whose  young  perished  too. 

The  official  figures  for  the  PribiloC  Islands  catch  are  taken  from  the 
Treasury  agents'  annual  reports  on  tile  in  the  Department.  The  official 
figures  of  the  pelagic  catch  are  based  on  the  reports  of  the  collectors  of 
customs  at  San  Francisco,  Astoria,  Port  Townsend,  and  other  ports 
in  the  United  States,  and  at  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  and,  for  some 
of  the  years,  from  the  London  trade  sales  of  pelagic  skins. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  real  number  of  pelagic  skins 
taken  during  the  five  years  last  named  aggregate  500,000,  and  if  we 
consider  the  loss  sustained  by  the  wounding  and  sinking  of  seals  that 
are  never  secured,  the  numbers  would  run  up  to  three-quarters  of  a 
million  destroyed,  lost  to  the  United  States,  in  live  years. 

But  let  us  take  only  what  are  given  officially  as  entered  in  United 
States  and  Victoria  (British  Columbia)  custom  houses,  394,222,  and 
allow  that  only  50  per  cent  of  them  were  females,  or,  say,  200,000 
mothers,  one-half  of  whose  pups  were  "cutout  alive"  and  thrown  over- 
board at  sea,  and  the  other  half  of  whose  pups  starved  to  death  on  the 
rookeries,  then  the  account  would  run  thus: 

Male  seals  killed 194,  222 

Gravid  females 100,  000 

Pups  "  cut  out  of  same  " 100,  000 

Mothers  iu  milk 100,  000 

Pups  starved  on  rookeries 100,  000 

Total 594,  222 

But  coming  back  once  more  to  the  bare  official  figures  as  given  by 
the  collectors  of  customs,  what  do  they  teach  us? 

They  show  on  their  face  that  the  pelagic  sealers  are  reaping  the 
wealth  of  the  seal  herd  while  the  United  States  are  paying  all  the 
expenses;  that  during  the  existence  of  the  modus  vivendi,  when  it  was 
agreed  that  all  parties  should  cease  killing  seals  until  an  impartial 
inquiry  and  investigation  could  be  made,  the  United  States  lived  up  to 
the  agreement,  and  the  pelagic  sealer  increased  his  fleet  and  killed  more 
seals  than  he  ever  killed  before. 

In  1890,  on  the  discovery  of  the  decrease  on  the  rookeries,  we  imme- 
diately reduced  our  catch  from  the  regular  annual  quota  of  100,000  to 
20,995,  but  the  pelagic  sealer  continued  on  his  cruise  and  captured  in 
the  whole  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea  51,814  skins. 

In  1891  our  catch  amounted  to  13,482;  the  pelagic  sealer,  in  spite  of 
pledge,  promise,  law,  and  two  armed  fleets,  captured  nearly  70.000. 

In  1892,  with  the  modus  vivendi  thoroughly  understood  by  our  agents 
on  the  islands,  we  took  7,549  seals  to  feed  the  natives  of  the  seal  islands 
as  per  agreement  with  Great  Britain,  and  the  pelagic  sealer,  in  defiance 
of  all  law,  took  73,394. 

In  1893,  still  abiding  by  the  terms  of  the  modus  vivendi,  we  took 
7,500,  and  the  pelagic  sealer  took  109,000.  (These  figures  include  seals 
killed  OD  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  North  Pacific  Ocean.) 

It  was  in  1893  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration  met  at  Paris,  and,  after 
carefully  reviewing  the  whole  situation  and  the  questions  at  issue,  a 
decision  was  rendered  and  regulations  suggested  for  the  settlement  of 
the  Bering  Sea  question  and  for  the  protection  of  the  fur  seals. 

The  full  text  of  the  award  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

With  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  and  the  questions  of  national  and 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PHIBILOF    ISLANDS.  119 

international  law  decided  by  it,  I  have  nothing  to  do;  but  with  all  that 
appertains  to  the  practical  side  of  the  seal  question  and  the  measures 
which  should  be  adopted  for  the  absolute  protection  of  the  seals,  I  have 
t<>  do,  and  1  say.  without  the  least  hesitation,  that  the  regulations 
adopted  lor  that  express  purpose  by  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration  are  a 
failure. 

That  the  two  great  nations  directly  interested  in  the  questions  laid 
before  the  tribunal  were  honestly  anxious  to  have  a  definite  and  mutually 
satisfactory  settlement  is  not  to  be  doubted;  that  the  questions  at  issue 
were  fully  and  ably  presented  by  counsel  on  both  sides  can  not  be  dis- 
puted; that  our  own  representatives  were  in  full  possession  of  all  the 
facts  and  testimony,  and  that  they  had  a  thorough  knowledge  and  grasp 
of  the  actual  situation  is  shown  by  the  able  manner  in  which  they  pre- 
sented their  case  and  met  the  arguments  of  opposing  counsel,  and  yet 
notwithstanding  all  this,  regulations  have  been  made  professedly  for 
the  protection  of  the  seals  but  practically  for  the  benefit  of  the  pelagic 
sealer. 

No  better  proof  of  this  could  be  given  than  the  official  figures  already 
quoted  for  1894 — a  total  pelagic  catch  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and 
Bering  Sea,  from  shore  to  shore,  of  14U,000  seals,  while  only  16,031  were 
killed  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  from  August,  1893,  to  August,  1894. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  too,  that  out  of  a  total  of  95  vessels  employed 
in  pelagic  sealing  only  37  entered  Bering  Sea  in  1894,  and  yet,  in  about 
five  weeks,  these  37  vessels  killed  over  7,000  seals  more  than  were  taken 
by  the  95  vessels  on  the  American  side  of  the  North  Pacific  Ocean, 
exclusive  of  Bering  Sea.  in  four  months,  from  January  to  April,  inclusive. 

That  the  regulations  have  already  accomplished  much  good  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean  outside  of  Bering  Sea  is  freely  admitted;  but  so  long  as 
they  allow  the  same  seals  to  be  killed  in  August  in  Bering  Sea  which 
they  protected  in  May,  June,  and  July  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  they  can 
not  be  of  permanent  benefit  to  the  herd  as  a  whole.  The  fault  is  not 
the  fault  of  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration  nor  of  any  of  the  American 
gentlemen  in  any  way  connected  with  it,  for  they  very  clearly  showed 
that  extermination  would  be  the  result  of  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea 
at  any  time  from  May  to  September,  as  the  following  extracts  from 
argument  of  American  counsel  will  show: 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

The  British  commissioners,  in  their  report  (section  132),  say  the  coast  catch  is  made 
from  February  to  June,  inclusive,  five  months,  while  the  Bering  Sea  catch  is  taken 
during  .July,  August,  and  part  of  September,  or  two  mouths  and  a  half. 

For  each  of  the  96  vessels  engaged  in  the  coast  sealing,  the  average  per  month  is 
113,  while  tin-  monthly  average  for  each  of  the  86  vessels  entering  Bering  Sea  is  290. 

It  is  at  once  apparent  that  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  is  over  twice  as  damaging  to  the 
seal  herd  as  sealing  in  the  North  I'acilic,  and  that  in  three  years  8,000  more  seals  were 
taken  in  Bering  Sea  than  along  the  coast  in  half  the  time  by  a  fleet  numbering  ten 
\  easels  less  than  the  coast  fleet. 

Certain  witnesses  examined  by  the  Tinted  States  give  sufficient  data  to  show  the 
time  occupied  in  sealing  along  the  coast  and  that  occupied  in  Bering  Sea,  also  the 
catches  made  in  each  place,  respectively,  and  in  many  instances  the  distance  from  the 
islands  at  which  seals  were  Taken.  These  have  all  been  collated  and  arranged  in 
the  form  of  a  table,  an  examination  of  which  will  show  that  they  fully  corroborate 
the  statement  that  pelagic  sealing  is  much  more  damaging  in  Bering  Sea  than  in  the 
North  Pacilic.  The  iirst  four  witnesses  were  examined  at  Victoria.  The  page  refer- 
ences are  to  the  Tinted  States  case.  Appendix,  Vol.11. 

Such  data  as  these  appearing  in  the  above  table  can  not  be  found  in  the  deposi- 
tions appearing  in  the  British  counter  case.  It  is  unfortunate  that  this  important 
matter  should  have  been  left  out  of  the  British  testimony. 

This  testimony  further  corroborates  the  statement  of  the  British  commissioners 
that  the  Bering  Sea  is  not  entered  until  about  the  1st  of  July. 


1'JO  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PR1BILOF    ISLANDS. 

( >f  tin-  pelagic  sealers  examined  l»y  tin-  I'nittMl  States  ( Fnited  States  case.  Appendix, 
Vol.  II.  jip.  ;!i;>-.~>(>7.  inclusive)  7!'  jjive  testimony  as  to  the  time  they  entered  Bering 
Sea.  <  M'  this  mi n ilier  tiS  entered  the  sea  a  fter  .)  une  L'0  and  til  entered  bet  ween  ,)niv  1 
and  .  1 1 1 1  \  1  ."• . 

<  )f  the  ;:ir>  depositions  taken  by  <  Ireat    I'.rilain   and    printed    in   the  !  Irit  ish  counter 
ease    Appendix.  \'ol.  11     bin  ."•  jjive  the   time  of  entering  Bering  Sea.     One  ot'  these 
.Miner,  p.   1  li!     ui  ve-  the  time  as  "the   latter  part  of  .1  une :  "  '2  i  1  lart  iven.  p.  Ill',  and 
Fiuuera.  p.   iL'.V  ••  earlv  in  .1  illy  :  "  and   the  L'  others    ( i  and  in,  p.  111.  and    L'at  Jens,  p. 
121   .  "July  L1!'." 

From  the  testimony  stated  above,  it  is  e\  ident  why  (Jreat  Britain  tailed  tocxamine 
wit  lie-. -e>  on  this  point,  since  the  Bri  t  i-h  commissioners  proposed  as  a  rest  rict  i  ve  re^- 
nlatiitn  that  Beri  n  •_:  >ea  should  not  be  entered  beibre  the  1st  of  .1  nly,  and  t  he  British 
counsel,  in  present  in<i  a  scheme  for  re  LIU  hit  ions  to  the  tribunal,  incorporated  the  same 
siiLMM1-!  ion  therein.  It  scarcely  seems  possible,  in  face  of  the  evidence  that  sealing 
doc-  not  usiiallv  beuiu  in  Beri ni:"  Sea  until  .hilv.  that  tire.n  Britain's  advisers  can 
rcallv  believe  that  it  \\  ould  restrict  pelagic  sealing  to  pri.hihit  the  sealers  from  doin<; 
what  the\  ha\i-  never  done,  do  not  do.  and  never  xvmild  do. 

<  M'  the  sealers  examineil  by  the  l"n  ited  >t  a  t  <  s  and  !  irea  t   Britain.  I'll  su^ucst  a  deli- 
nite  period  for  a  dose  time.      They  are  arranged  belo\v  in  the  form  of  a  table,  show- 
in^  the  month-  in  which  they  think  pelagic  sealing  should  !>:•  prohibited.      The  first 
7  were  examined  by  lireat  Britain,  and  their  depositions   are  included  in  the  British 
counter  case.      (Appendix,  Vol.  II.  >      The   remainder   were  examined    by  the    I'nited 
States,  and  their  -t  atcments  a  p]  tear  in  the  I'nited  States  case.        Appendix.  Vol.  II  ). 

These  men.  beinu'  pelagic  sealers,  know  what  months  s'-aliu^  is  injurious  to  the 
seal  herd.  If.  therefore,  the  advice  of  all  the-e  witnesses  were  followed,  every 
month  in  the  year  would  be  clnscd  to  pelagic  sealini;'. 

Tul)  illation  nt   <>]>  i  it  1 1  nix  <>f  i><  I  <i</  /'•  >•'  n !  c, >'*.  n)n>irhi(/  /'  n  i'i  n  -i  irl/  it  i  I>I--H  HIH  i  >)'<•!•  <'ll » >i  ix  HI  <  (led 

III     />'/  I'llKj    >'f  <(. 


DMmw —  .July. 

Mun'aii  '.'.  »._.  ,I,,1\    SepicniluT.' 

Ainlricins -    •    "  •"       •      •  *- —...-.. ^-~-  .J:inn:ir.v    An  mist  15. 

Jiiviinsiii  -.  — — 

Claiisi-n 

11  uniiiiii  "'.'.'.['.'.'."'.'.'.'.'..  — — 

Hiirrison -J:mu:ir\    .Tnlvl.">. 

H;.ll-,ll — - — • — ~  .Inls      \n\eini.cr. 

.Jolili-oli '"  .)ill\      DC, •cm). rr. 

L«-nanl...  ^— — — — -^— — — — — —  M;orli  October. 

I).'  MrLi-iiii '.!.".'!."."."!!".!! .Inii.-l.-,  Uriulu-r. 


An  examination  of  the  I'ore^oinu  table  shows  that  a-  tit  some  months  all  are  snb- 
Ktantiallv  agreed  that  sealing  should  be  ]>roh  i  luted  if  the  seals  are  to  be  preserved. 
These  months  are  .July  and  August',  the  princijcil  sealinu'  months  in  Bering  Sea. 

All  the,  L".»  include  .Inly,  except  one.  who  thinks  the  close  season  should  end  on 
.Jnlv  \~>. 

Twent  v-foui1.  or  fonr-fiftliH  of  the  witnesses,  include  Auu'ii-t.  and  17  inciinle  Se,j>- 
tember  in  their  proposed  close  -eason. 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLAND-.  121 

On  the  facts  above  stated  the  United  States  claim  that  the  following  propositions 
have  beeii  demonstrated  beyond  refutation: 

(1)  That  female  seals  2  years  old  and  over  are  pregnant  at  all  times  when  found  in 
the  waters  of  Bering  Sea. 

(2)  That  the  nursing  females  are  the  only  class  of  seals  which  feed  to  any  extent 
while  pelagic  sealing  is  carried  on  in  Bering  Sea. 

(3)  That  the  nursing  females  are  taken  in  large  numbers  over  50  miles  from  the 
islands. 

(1)  That  the  seal  pups  are  not  weaned  until  after  the  sealing  season  has  closed  in 
Bering  Sea. 

(5)  That  the  killing  of  a  nursing  female  in  Bering  Sea  destroys  at  least  two  lives, 
namely,  the  female  and  the  fetus;  and  it  is  an  irresistible  conclusion  that  the  pup 
left  upon  the  islands  by  the  female  killed  also  perishes  (see  paper  directed  particu- 
larly to  that  subject). 

i>  That  in  point  of  numbers  alone  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  is  over  twice  as  destruc- 
tive to  seal  life  as  scaling  in  the  North  Pacific. 

(7)  That  the  sealing  season  in  Bering  Sea  comprises  only  the  months  of  July, 
August,  and  a  part  of  September. 

(N)  That  all  the  sealers  examined  by  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  as  to  the 
months  when  sealing  should  be  prohibited  include  July  in  the  close  season  proposed, 
and  nearly  all  include  August. 

(9)  That  to  open  Bering  Sea  during  the  months  of  July  and  August,  with  a  pro- 
tective zone  of  20  miles  about  the  Pribilof  Islands,  as  proposed  by  Great  Britain, 
would  mean  the  extermination  of  the  seal  herd. 

(10)  That  absolute  prohibition  of  pelagic  sealing  at  all  times  in  the  whole  Bering 
Sea  east  of  the  180  degrees  meridian  from  Greenwich  is  necessary  to  preserve  the 
Alaskan  seals.     (Notes  for  United  States  counsel,  p.  10.) 

REGULATIONS. 

[Extract  from  Senator  Morgan's  opinion.] 

I  will  now  state,  as  I  gather  from  all  the  evidence  before  us,  what  is  the  evil  that 
these  Governments  have  found  to  be  so  threatening  to  seal  life  in  the  Alaskan  herd 
as  to  draw  them  into  an  agreement  that  it  should  be  repressed  by  their  concurrent 
action. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  examine  again  the  details  of  the  evidence  so  thoroughly  pre- 
sented and  with  such  judicial  impartiality  by  Mr.  Justice  Harlan.  I  can  find  no  flaw  or 
omission  in  his  careful  statements  of  the  evidence,  or  in  the  conclusions  that  he  drew 
from  it  as  to  matters  of  fact.  I  believe  that  he  stated  the  exact  truth  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  I  fully  concur  in  his  treatment  of  the  subject  and  in  the  conclusions  that 
he  has  reached. 

The  present  situation,  as  I  understand  it,  is  as  follows,  as  shown  by  a  comparison 
of  the  Pribilof  and  pelagic  catches:1 


Year                    Pribilof 
Islands. 

Total 
pelagic 
catch. 

1890  21  234 

51  655 

1891                                     r>  071 

68  000 

1892  7.500 
1893  7  500 

73,  394 

"S>  000 

Total  48  305 

973  04  () 

a  Estimated. 

In  1889  the  Pribilof  catch  was  102,617.  which  fell  off  to  21,234  in  1890,  and  this  was 
all  that  the  islands  would  yield  of  killable  seals,  leaving  a  deficit  as  compared  with 
the  previous  year  of  81,379  seals  upon  the  islands.  If  this  contrast  in  the  number  of 
seals  that  could  be  taken  on  the  islands  in  1889  and  1890  was  due  to  the  overkilling 
of  males  on  the  islands  and  not  to  pelagic  sealing,  the  falling  off  of  numbers  would 
have  been  indicated  in  each  of  the  six  years  prior  to  1889.  No  one  has  asserted  such 
a  fact,  and  we  know  that  a  male  seal  must  be  of  6  years  old  before  he  is  able  to  take 
up  and  niaintain  a  harem  on  the  rookeries.  So  that  this  falling  off  between  1889  and 
1890,  if  it  was  due  to  an  excessive  killing  of  males,  must  have  occurred  at  least  as 
early  as  1882.  This  is  not  true,  and  no  one  pretends  that  it  is.  The  killing  of  51,655 
seals  that  the  pelagic  hunters  got,  and  at  least  three-fold  that  number,  including 

1  These  figures,  cited  by  Senator  Morgan,  include  seals  taken  off  the  Asiatic  coast 
of  the  North  Pacific  Ocean. 


122  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

those  that  were  lost,  must  have  reached  300,000  seals  that  were  destroyed.  Of  this 
number  three-fourths  were  females,  that  are  not  killable  seals  on  the  islands  and  are 
not  counted  in  the  Pribilof  catch. 

The  verification  of  this  calculation  is  almost  perfect  in  1892,  when  the  pelagic 
sealers  took  73,000  seals,  and  in  1891,  when  they  took  68,000.  The  close  approxima- 
tion of  these  figures  shows  that  the  loss  of  the  seals  on  the  islands  was  due  to  pelagic 
sealing  and  not  to  the  want  of  virility  in  the  bulls  on  the  breeding  grounds  or  to  any 
other  cause. 

That  the  process  which  has  actually  depleted  the  seal  herd  in  four  years  to  the 
extent  of  569,065  (273,000  of  which  were  females)  is  an  evril  that  requires  to  be  reme- 
died, for  the  sake  of  the  protection  and  preservation  of  seal  life,  no  one  can  doubt, 
as  it  seems  to  me.  This  progressive  depletion  of  this  herd  of  seals  can  not  fail  to 
destroy  them  very  soon,  and,  in  the  meantime,  to  deprive  the  Tinted  States  of  all 
possible  advantage  and  compensation  derived  from  its  efforts  to  save  the  species. 
What  the  United  States  has  done,  or  omitted  to  do,  to  deserve  treatment  at  the  hands 
of  this  tribunal  that  will  expose  its  lawful  industries  to  ruin,  its  revenues  to  deple- 
tion, and  its  wards  on  the  Privilof  Islands  to  the  loss  of  their  only  valuable  industry 
will  be  an  inquiry  that  will  seriously  challenge  the  justice  of  such  an  award,  in  the 
estimate  of  the  civilized  world. 

The  evil  to  be  provided  against  by  this  tribunal  is,  clearly,  pelagic  sealing  with 
firearms. 

If  there  is,  or  has  been,  any  detriment  to  the  seal  herd  from  the  treatment  of  the 
United  States,  on  the  islands,  the  facts  on  this  subject  were  not  unknown  to  Great 
Britain  when  the  treaty  was  made  and  before  ratifications  were  exchanged.  This 
subject  was  not  referred  to  in  any  of  the  correspondence  between  the  (Governments, 
and  the  treaty  is  silent  as  to  this  supposed  mismanagement. 

Will  the  tribunal,  in  such  a  case,  make  an  objection  to  protecting  and  preserving  the 
fur  seals  on  the  water  because  Great  Britain  has  not  thought  it  proper  or  necessary 
to  call  the  methods  into  question,  or  the  United  States  into  account  for  its  manner  of 
dealing  with  that  subject  on  land?  True,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  the  depletion  of 
the  herd  is  dne  to  that  cause,  and  not  to  pelagic  hunting,  that  is  a  just  and  proper 
inquiry.  If  it  is  due  to  both  causes,  this  tribunal  will  deal  with  the  pelagic  evil, 
that  is  submitted  to  its  consideration,  and  leave  it  to  the  nations  concerned  in  the 
protection  of  seal  life  to  deal  with  the  evil  on  land. 

If  the  United  States  are  not  so  wise  in  caring  for  the  seals  on  land  as  the  pelagic 
hunters  are  in  caring  for  them  at  sea,  as  seems  to  be  asserted,  they  are  quite  as 
earnest  in  the  wish  to  do  so.  They  destroy  no  female  seals,  while  the^pelagic  hunter 
never  spares  one.  They  do  not  tire  upon  the  breeding  rookeries  when  the  seals  are 
massed,  many  of  them  asleep,  with  double-barreled  shotguns  and  buckshot  car- 
tridges. They  do  not  kill  indiscriminately  all  seals  that  come  in  sight. 

The  United  States  permit  no  female  seals  to  be  killed;  while  75  per  cent  of  those 
killed  by  the  pelagic  hunter  are  females  heavy  with  young  and  almost  helpless. 

In  that  condition,  as  well  as  in  accordance  with  a  law  of  their  nature,  which  is  an 
important  fact  in  connection  with  their  domesticity,  the  female  fur  seals  require  a 
great  deal  of  sleep.  When  asleep,  they  turn  upon  their  backs,  fold  their  flippers 
over  their  breasts,  and  curving  their  hind  nippers  upward,  they  form  their  bodies  as 
a  sort  of  boat,  the  spinal  column  representing  the  keel.  They  can  only  breathe 
the  upper  air;  they  can  not,  like  a  h'sh,  extract  air  from  the  water.  After  inhaling 
the  air  the  nostrils  close  firmly  together,  and  the  air,  heated  by  their  bodies,  expands 
and  buoys  them  up.  They  seldom  breathe  oftener  than  once  in  fifteen  minutes,  and, 
when  diving,  they  need  not  return  to  the  surface  for  air  oftener  than  every  thirty 
minutes.  We  know  nothing  of  their  habits  at  night  while  in  the  ocean.  On  land 
they  are  so  boisterous  at  night  with  their  howliugs  that  sleep  would  seem  to  be 
impossible,  except  from  sheer  exhaustion.  They  have  not  a  keen  vision,  and  the 
sunlight  is  painful  to  them,  so  that  they  leave  the  land  and  go  to  sea  on  da.vs  that 
are  bright.  This  causes  them  to  seek  a  summer  home  in  a  place  where  fogs  and  rains 
prevail.  Yet  they  must  have  warmth.  Nature  has  amply  provided  for  this  necessity 
by  giving  them  a  double  coating  of  thick,  strong  hair,  and  of  the  thickest  and  finest 
fur  that  was  ever  bestowed  upon  any  species  of  animals.  It  is  as  impervious  to 
water  as  the  down  of  an  eider  duck.  The  pups  are  born  without  this  fur,  and  hence 
their  aversion  to  swimming  until  it  has  grown  out;  and  this  detains  them  on  land 
for  four  months,  at  least,  during  which  period  they  can  subsist  only  on  the  milk  of 
the  cow  seals.  While  their  vision  is  not  keen,  their  auditory  organs  and  sense  of 
smell  are  exceedingly  acute.  They  are  attracted  by  sounds  as  few  other  animals 
are.  In  this  faculty  they  make  a  close  approach  to  the  endowments  of  mankind. 
Sir  John  Thompson  is  amused  at  an  account,  read  by  Mr.  .Justice  Marian,  of  the 
seals  being  attracted  in  great  numbers  near  to  the  shore  at  Hoy  by  the  ringing  of  a 
church  bell.  In  his  credulous  sport  over  this  incident  Sir  .John  forgot  that  it  is  the 
personal  observation  of  Mr.  Low,  one  of  the  greatest  naturalists  who  ever  lived, 
the  friend  and  companion  of  Cuvier,  and  is  more  than  confirmed  by  M.  Peron,  whom 
France  has  honored  in  the  most  conspicuous  way.  His  abilities  as  a  naturalist, 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

acquainted  intimately  with  seal  lif«-,  an-  as  far  in  advance  of  those  of  Professor 
Elliott,  from  whom  Lord  ilannen  quotes  with  much  satisfaction,  as  Napoleon  was  in 
advance  of  the  Sioux  chieftain.  Sitting  Bull,  as  a  military  genius. 

1  will  presently  quote  something  further  about  fur  seals  trom  Mr.  Peroii. 

I  kiiow  Mr.  Elliott,  whom  the  British  (Joverniuent  has  dubbed  "  professor."    I  have 
respect  for  his  character  and   sprightliness.     He   is  a  painter  in  water  colors  of  no 
mean  pretensions,  but  his  use  of  color  does  not  stop  with  his  canvas.     It  enters  into 
all  he  savs,  and  makes  him  too  vivid  an  enthusiast,  for  a  sale  reliance  on  questions  of 
measurements,  statistics,  and  cold  facts.     Mr.  Elliott  was  out  on  the  Pribilof  Islands 
on  the  10th  of  July,  181K).  taking  lield  notes,  which,  to  he  of  any  value,  should  be  free 
from  all  romantic  conjecture.     1  he  following  is  one  of  his  highly  colored  extracts  from 
his  report  of  that  day  : 

••  In  company  with  Mr.  (ioH'and  Dr.  Lutz  I  made  my  plotting  of  the  breeding  seals 
as  they  lay  on  the  Reef  and  (iarbotch  to-day.  Here  at  the  very  height  of  the  breed- 
ing season,  when  the  masses  were  most  compact  and  uniform  in  their  distribution  in 
1872-1874,  I  find  the  animals  as  they  lay  to-day,  scattered  over  twice  and  thrice  as 
much  ground,  as  a  rule,  as  the  same  number  would  occupy  in  1872 — scattered  because 
the  virile  bulls  are  so  few  in  number  and  the  service  which  they  render  so  delayed  or 
impotent.  In  other  words,  the  cows  are  restless;  not  being  served  when  in  heat, 
they  seek  other  bulls  by  hauling  out  in  green  jagged  points  of  massing  (as  is  shown 
by  the  chart)  up  from  tl>eir  lauding  belts.  This  unnatural  action  of  the  cows,  or 
rather  unwonted  movement,  has  caused  the  pups  a  ready  to  form  small  pods  every- 
where, even  where  the  cows  are  most  abundant,  which  shadows  to  me  the  truth  of 
the  fact  that  in  five  days  or  a  week  from  date  the  scattering  completely  of  the  rook- 
ery organization  will  be  thoroughly  done  It  did  not  take  place  until  the  20th  to- 
the  25th  of  July,  1872.  In  1872  these,  cows  were  promptly  met  with  the  service  which 
they  craved  on  the  rookery  ground.  The  scattering  of  these  old  bulls  to-day  over  so- 
large  an  area  is  due  to  extreme  feebleness  and  combined  in  many  cases  to  a  recollec- 
tion of  no  distant  day  when  they  had  previously  hauled  thus  far  out  on  this  very 
ground  surrounded  by  bareness,  though  all  is  vacant  and  semi-grass  grown  under 
and  around  them  now."  (hissenting  opinions,  Harlan  and  Morgan,  pp.  106,  109.) 

It  is  assumed  throughout  the  report  of  the  British  commissioners  that  pelagic  seal- 
ing is  not  necessarily  destructive,  and  that,  under  regulation,  the  prosecution  of  it 
need  not  involve  the  extermination  of  the  herds.  This  assumption  and  the  evidence 
bearing  upon  it  will  be  elsewhere  particularly  treated  in  what  we  may  have  to  say 
upon  the  subject  of  regulations.  It  will  there  be  shown  that  it  is  not  only  destructive 
in  its  tendency,  but  that,  if  permitted,  it  will  complete  the  work  of  piratical  exter- 
mination in  a  very  short  period  of  time.  But  so  far  as  it  is  asserted  that  a  restricted 
and  regulated  pelagic  sealing  is  consistent  with  the  moral  laws  of  nature  and  should 
be  allowed,  the  argument  has  a  bearing  upon  the  claim  of  the  United  States  of  a 
property  interest,  and  should  be  briefly  considered  here.  Let  it  be  clearly  under- 
stood, then,  just  what  pelagic  sealing  is,  however  restricted  or  regulated.  And  we 
shall  now  describe  it  by  those  features  of  it  which  are  not  disputed  or  disputable. 

We  pass  by  the  shocking  cruelty  and  inhumanity,  with  its  sickening  details  of 
bleating  and  crying  offspring  falling  upon  the  decks  from  the  bellies  of  mothers- 
as  they  are  ripped  open,  and  of  white  milk  flowing  in  streams  mingled  with  blood. 
These  enormities  which,  if  attempted  within  the  territory  of  a  civilized  State,  would 
speedily  be  made  the  subjects  of  criminal  punishment,  are,  not  relevant,  or  are  less 
relevant,  in  the  discussion  of  the  mere  question  of  property. 

It  is  not  contended  that  in  pelagic  sealing  (1)  there  can  be  any  selective  killing, 
or  (2)  that  a  great  excess  of  females  over  males  is  not  slain,  or  (S)  that  a  great  num- 
ber of  victims  perish  from  wounds  without  being  recovered,  or  (4)  that  in  most  cases 
the  females  killed  are  not  either  heavy  with  young  or  nursing  mothers,  or  (5)  that 
each  and  every  of  these  incidents  can  not  be  avoided  by  the  selective  killing  which 
is  practiced  on  the  breeding  islands.  We  do  not  stop  to  discuss  the  idle  questions 
whether  this  form  of  slaughter  will  actually  exterminate  the  herds  or  how  long  it 
may  take  to  complete  the  destruction.  It  is  enough  for  the  present  purpose  to  say 
that  it  is  simple  destruction.  It  is  destructive  because  it  does  not  make  or  aim  to 
make  its  draft  upon  the  increase,  which  consists  of  the  superfluous  males,  but,  by 
taking  females,  striken  directly  at  the  stock,  and  strikes  at  the  stock  in  the  most 
damaging  \\  ay,  by  destroying  unborn  and  newly  boru  pups,  together  with  their 
mothers.  Whoever  undertakes  to  set  up  a  moral  right  to  prosecute  this  mode  of 
slaughter  on  the  ground  that  it  will  not  necessarily  result  in  complete  destruction 
must  maintain  that  while  it  maybe  against  the  law  of  nature  to  work  complete 
destruction,  it  is  yet  lawful  to  destroy.  Hut  what  the  law  of  nature  forbids  is  any 
destruction  at  all  unless  it  is  necessary.  To  destroy  a  little  and  to  destroy  much 
are  the  same  crimes. 

I 1  there  were  even  something  less  than  a  right,  or  rather  some  low  degree  of  right— 
for  nothing  other  than  rights  can  be  taken  notice  of  here — some  mere  convenience, 
it  might  be  worthy  of  consideration;  but  there  is  none.     It  can  not  even  be  said  that 
pelagic  sealing  may  furnish  to  the  world  a  seal  skin  at  a  lower  price.     Nothing  can 


124  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

be  plainer  than  that  it  is  the  most  expensive  mode  of  capturing  seals.  It  requires 
the  expenditure  of  a  vast  sum  in  vessels,  boats,  appliances,  and  human  labor,  which 
is  all  unnecessary,  because  the  entire  increase  can  be  reaped  without  them.  This 
unnecessary  expense  is  a  charge  upon  the  consumer,  and  must  be  reimbursed  in  the 
price  he  pays.  In  no  way  can  pelagic  sealing  result  in  a  cheapening  of  the  product, 
•except  upon  the  assumption  that  the  stock  of  seals  is  inexhaustible  and  that  the 
amount  of  the  pelagic  catch  is  an  addition  to  the  total  catch,  which  might  be  made 
on  the  land  if  capture  were  restricted  to  the  land;  and  this  assumption  is  admitted 
on  all  hands,  and  even  by  the  commissioners  of  Great  Britain,  to  be  untrue. 

If  there  were  any  evil,  or  inconvenience  even,  to  be  apprehended  from  a  confine- 
ment of  the  capture  of  the  seals  to  the  breeding  places,  it  might  serve  to  arrest  atten- 
tion; but  there  is  none.  Much  is  said,  indeed,  in  the  report  of  the  commissioners  of 
Great  Britain  concerning  a  supposed  monopoly  which  would  thus  be  secured,  as  is 
pretended,  to  the  lessees  of  the  breeding  islands,  which  would  enable  them  to  exact 
an  excessive  price  for  skins ;  but  this  notion  is  wholly  erroneous.  (Argument  of  the 
United  States  counsel,  p.  98.) 

The  whole  herd  owes  its  existence  not  merely  to  the  care  ami  protection  but  to 
the  forbearance  of  the  United  States  Government  within  its  exclusive  jurisdiction. 
While  the  seals  are  upon  the  United  States  territory  during  the  season  of  reproduc- 
tion and  nurture  that  Government  might  easily  destroy  the  herd  by  killing  them 
all,  at  a  considerable  immediate  profit.  From  such  a  slaughter  it  is  bound  to  refrain, 
if  the  only  object  is  to  preserve  the  animals  long  enough  to  enable  them  to  be  exter- 
minated by  foreigners  at  sea.  If  that  is  to  be  the  result,  it  would  be  for  the  interest 
of  the  Government,  and  plainly  within  its  right  and  powers,  to  avail  itself  at  once 
of  such  present  value  as  its  property  possesses,  if  the  future  product  of  it  can  not 
be  preserved.  Can  there  be  more  conclusive  proof  than  this  of  such  lawful  posses- 
sion and  control  as  constitutes  property,  and  alone  produces  and  continues  the  exist- 
ence of  the  subject  of  it? 

The  justice  and  propriety  of  these  propositions,  their  necessity  to  the  general 
interests  of  mankind,  and  the  foundation  upon  which  they  rest  in  the  original  prin- 
ciples from  which  rights  of  ownership  are  derived,  have  been  clearly  and  forcibly 
pointed  out  by  Mr.  Carter.  (Argument  of  the  United  States  counsel,  p.  134.) 

Tims  it  will  be  seen  that  the  danger  menacing  the  seals  in  Bering 
Sea  by  hunting  in  July,  August,  and  September  was  well  understood 
by  American  counsel  at  Paris,  and  pointed  out  by  them  to  the  arbi- 
trators with  rare  ability  and  conciseness. 

As  I  write,  the  Congressional  Record  of  December  12  is  on  my  desk 
with  a  letter  from  Mr.  Elliott  in  which  he  speaks  very  disparagingly  of 
our  agents  and  counsel  at  Paris,  and  of  their  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
subject-matter  before  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  thus: 

At  the  time  these  articles  of  the  Paris  award  were  published  immense  stress  was 
laid  upon  the  fact  that  firearms  were  prohibited  in  Bering  Sea  by  our  agents,  whe 
declare  that  this  prohibition  would  discourage  and  break  up  the  business  of  the 
pelagic  sealer.  They  were  strangely  ignorant  of  the  truth  in  the  matter,  at  least 
the  lawyers  were,  and  they  had  nobody  on  our  side  with  them  at  Paris  who  really 
knew  anything  about  the  life  and  habits  of  the  seals,  who  could  teach  them  better. 

That  they  were  neither  infallible  nor  omnipotent  is  freely  admitted; 
that  they  may  have  made  some  mistakes  may  be  true;  but  that  they 
left  behind  them  in  America  an  equal  number  of  men  knowing  one- 
half  as  much  as  what  they  knew  about  seals  has  not  been,  nor  can  it 
be,  shown. 

If  mistakes  have  been  made  at  all  they  were  made  when  we  first 
agreed  to  arbitrate  the  questions  that  have  since  been  decided  against 
us  by  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration ;  and  it  is  now  too  late  to  enter  into 
idle  discussions,  criminations,  and  recriminations  as  to  who  was  right 
and  who  was  wrong. 

Having  once  put  our  case  into  the  hands  of  the  tribunal,  we  must  abide 
fcy  its  decision  until  we  can  with  honor  and  dignity,  worthy  our  country, 
bring  about  other  arrangements. 

That  the  regulations,  made  in  good  faith,  do  not  accomplish  all  that 
-was  expected  of  them  is  so  patent  to  everyone  that  it  needs  no  discus- 
sion here,  and  the  proper  steps  ought  to  be  taken  as  soon  as  possible 
to  remedy  their  defects. 

Of  one  thing  we  may  rest  assured,  and  that  is  that  August  and  Sep- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  125 

tember — but  August  by  all  means — should  have  been  included  in  the 
u  close  time/'  it'  the  seals  are  to  be  saved  from  extinction. 

It  is  in  August  the  harems,  or  families,  are  broken  up  on  the  rookeries, 
and  the  mother  seals  go  away  from  the  islands  to  distances  of  from  80 
to  200  miles  after  food  and  rest:  and  it  is  in  August  they  sleep  soundest 
and  longest,  after  gorging  themselves  with  the  first  full  meal  they  have 
had  time  to  secure  since  June.  In  August  and  September  the  weather 
is  usually  favorable  in  Bering  Sea,  and  the  pelagic  hunter,  having  a 
license  to  work  and  nothing  to  fear,  goes  in  among  the  sleeping  mother 
seals  and  quietly  spears  them  until  his  vessel  is  loaded  with  skins,  and 
want  of  room  for  more  admonishes  him  to  stop. 

That  the  seals  have  steadily  decreased  since  1884:  that  much  of  the 
decrease  is  due  to  the  slaughter  of  the  females  by  pelagic  hunters; 
that  the  rookeries  are  in  about  the  same  depleted  condition  that  they 
were  in  1834,  after  a  long  period  of  female  slaughter  by  the  Russians; 
that  the  remedy  applied  then  must  be  applied  now  if  we  would  save 
the  fur  seals  from  total  extinction,  and  build  up  and  replenish  the  rook- 
eries, are  self  evident  propositions  and  cannot  be  denied. 

There  is  no  time  to  debate  mere  questions  of  detail,  and  we  are  all 
agreed,  I  think,  that  on  the  absolute  safety  and  continued  protection  of 
the  female  seal  depends  the  perpetuation  of  the  species.  So  well  has 
this  been  understood  and  appreciated  since  1835  that  no  female  seal 
Las  been,  knowingly,  killed  on  the  seal  islands  in  Bering  Sea  for  the 
past  sixty  years. 

It  makes  but  little  difference  now  as  to  whose  theory  was  the  correct 
one  when  guessing  was  in  order;  nor  does  it  matter  much  as  to  whether 
spears  or  shotguns  are  used  in  killing  mother  seals,  or  whether  they 
are  killed  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  or  in  Bering  Sea;  the  only  ques- 
tion worth  considering  in  this  matter  of  fur  seals  just  now  is  "How  can 
we  prevent  the  killing  of  females0?" 

Fortunately  the  declarations  made  by  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration 
suggest  the  most  practicable  way  of  solving  the  problem;  and,  with 
the  consent  of  Great  Britain,  we  can  solve  it  immediately. 

The  Tribunal  of  Arbitration  has  declared  that: 

In  view  of  the  critical  condition  to  which  it  appears  certain  that  the  race  of  fur 
seals  is  now  reduced  in  consequence  of  circumstances  not  fully  known,  the  arbitra- 
tors think  tit  to  recommend  both  Governments  to  come  to  an  understanding  in  order 
to  prohibit  any  killing  of  fur  seals,  either  on  land  or  at  sea,  for  a  period  of  two  or 
three  years,  or  at  least  one  year,  subject  to  such  exceptions  as  the  two  Govern- 
ments might  think  proper  to  admit  of. 

Such  a  measure  might  be  recurred  to  at  occasional  intervals  if  found  beneficial. 

In  the  spirit  of  that  declaration,  and  being  only  too  well  aware  of  the 
present  "  critical  condition  of  the  race  of  fur  seals,'7  and  fully  appreciat- 
ing the  importance  of  immediate  action,  if  they  are  to  be  saved  from, 
extinction,  I  respectfully  offer  the  following  suggestions: 

(1)  That  the  United  States  Government  shall  officially  notify  Great 
Britain  of  the  failure  of  the  u  regulations"  to  adequately  protect  the 
seals  from  the  destructive  work  of  the  pelagic  sealer. 

(2)  That  Great  Britain  shall  be  requested  to  join  with  the  United 
States  in  establishing  a  modus  vivendi  until,  jointly,  they  arrange  to 
have  the  cooperation  of  both  Russia  and  Japan  in  making  regulations 
for  the  proper  protection  of  the  seal  herds  coming  to  the  islands  or 
territory  of  each. 

(3)  That  during  the  time  set  apart  for  the  modus  vivendi  no  sealing 
vessels  shall  be  cleared  for  sealing  purposes,  nor  shall  seals  be  taken 
anywhere  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  or  in  Bering  Sea,  excepting  what 
may  be  taken  by  the  Indians  on  the  American  and  British  Columbian 


126  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

coasts  for  food,  and  by  the  natives  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  for  necessary 
food.  fuel,  and  clothing,  as  was  done  during  the  last  modus  vivendi. 

»4  i  That  Congress  shall  be  asked  for  an  appropriation  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  a  commission  of  at  least  three  competent  and  disinterested 
men.  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  visit  all  the  seal  islands  and  breeding 
rookeries  in  the  P>ei  ing  and  Okhotsk  seas,  and  any  others  whose  seals 
range  in  either  of  those  seas  or  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean:  to  make  a 
thorough  investigation  of  lur-seal  life,  and  to  collect  testimony  bearing 
on  the  habits  of  the  animal  on  land  and  at  sea.  and  all  data  that  it  is 
possible  to  secure  regarding  the  ellect  of  driving  and  killing  on  land, 
and  of  pelagic  sealing,  and  such  other  information  as  mav  be  deemed 
necessary  to  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  seal  problem. 

i  .T)  That  the  said  commission  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President  of 
the  C  nited  States,  and  that  ( Jreat  llritain.  Russia,  and  Japan  be  invited 
to  appoint  similar  bodies  tor  similar  purposes,  who.  at  the  completion 
of  their  joint  investigations,  shall  jointly  report  the  result  thereof  and 
suggest  regulations  for  the  proper  and  adequate  protection  ot  the  fur 
seals  od  la  ml  a  ml  water. 

In  making  these  suggestions  1  have  kept  in  view  the  fact  that  with- 
out concurrent  action,  which  shall  be  mutually  satisfactory  to  the 
nations  directly  interested,  there  can  be  no  adequate  protection  given 
to  the  seals:  for  so  long  as  pelagic  sealers  can  operate  freely  in  Japa- 
nese or  Russian  waters  during  a  --close  time"  on  the  American  side,  and 
vice  versa,  the  herds  will  eventually  be  exterminated. 

'1  IK*  ( j  ues  t  ion  has  been  asked,  •*  Suppose  (i real  P>ritain  will  not  consent 
to  a  modus  vivendi  or  a  change  in  t  he  regulations  before  the  expiration 
of  the  live  years' term  established  by  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration:  what 
then  ?" 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  regulations  do  not  extend  to  the 
seal  islands,  nor  have  they  anything  whatever  to  do  with  our  work 
t  hereon. 

Let  Congress  at  the  present  session  repeal  all  laws  which  limit  the 
numbers  or  designate  the  sex  to  be  killed  on  the  islands,  and  enact 
laws  empowering  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  kill  without  limit 
whenever  it  may  appear  that  adequate  protection  to  the  herds  has  been 
sought  for  in  vain.  That  this  last  resort  is  our  right  and  our  duty  was 
plainly  shown  by  the  United  States  counsel  at  Paris,  who  said: 

Th"  whole  herd  owes  its  existence  not  merely  to  the  care  and  prot  eel  ion.  but  to 
the  forbearance  of  the  Tinted  States  (Government  within  its  exclusive  jurisdiction. 
While  the  ,-eals  an-  :i  pon  the  I  'nited  States  territory  during;'  t  he  season  of  reproduction 
and  nuri  nre.  that  <  Govern  men  t  mi  uht  easi  i  v  dest  n>v  t  he  herd  hv  killing  1  h  cm  all  at  a 
considerable  immediate  profit.  From  Hitch  a  slaughter  it  is  not  hound  to  refrain  if 

:'ii  on  uh  t  o  enable  them  to  be  exl  ermi- 
le^ult.  it    \\oiild   be  for  ihe  interest  of 
and    powers,    to    avail    itself  at    once 
if  the  future  product  of  it  can  not  bo 
preserved.        A  i  u  ii  me)  it  of  the  1 '  n  i  ted  States  compel,  p.   i;;i .  t 

And  yet.  while  admit  1  ing  our  right .  and  asking  for  t  he  enactment  of 
a  law  conferring  the  authority  to  kill  every  seal  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
sluaild  the  necessity  arise  to  demand  it,  I  abhor  t  he  t  hough  t  of  1  he  pos- 
sibility of  -ndi  a  dreadful  contingency. 

\\  lule  it  is  well  to  be  fully  prepared,  let  us  use  all  honorable  means  to 
avert  it  if  possible. 

Respect  in  !ly  submit  t  ed . 

JosFi'ii   MFKKAY.  Special  Aycnt. 

I  Ion.  JOHN  ( i.  CA  i.'i.isi.i;. 

^ff-rrhin/  of  t!i<     YV/v/.v/o-y. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  127 

APPENDIX. 


PELAGIC    SEALING. 


Deposition  of  Milton  Barnes,  *i><'<-i«l  employee  of  United  States  Treasury 

on  *S7.  Pnul 


OF  ALASKA, 
St.  Paul  Island^  ,VN  : 

I,  Milton  Barnes,  being  duly  sworn  according  to  law,  depose  and  say 
as  follows:  I  \\\\\  a  citi/rn  of  the  United  States,  and  when  at  home 
reside  near  Columbus,  Ohio.  Have  been  temporarily  stationed  during: 
the  last  year  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul,  one  of  the  fur-seal  or  Pribilof 
group  in  Bering  Sea,  as  a  special  employee  of  the  United  States 
Treasury  Department  on  said  island. 

One  day  during  the  latter  part  of  August  or  fore  part  of  September 
last  (exact  date  forgotten),  Col.  Joseph  Murray,  one  of  the  Treasury 
agents,  and  myself,  in  company  with  the  British  commissioners,  Sir 
George  Baden  Powell  and  Dr.  liawsoii,  by  boat  visited  one  of  the  seal 
rookeries  of  that  island  known  as  Tolstoi  or  English  Bay.  On  arriv- 
ing there  our  attention  was  at  once  attracted  by  the  excessive  num- 
ber of  dead  pups,  whose  carcasses  lay  scattered  profusely  over  the 
breeding  ground  or  sand  beach  bordering  the  rookery  proper  and 
extending  into  the  border  of  the  rookery  itself.  The  strange  sight 
occasioned  much  surmise  at  the  time  as  to  the  probable  cause  of  it. 
Some  of  the  carcasses  were  iu  an  advanced  stage  of  decay,  while  others 
were  of  recent  death,  and  their  general  appearance  was  that  of  having 
died  of  starvation.  There  were  a  few  that  still  showed  signs  of  life, 
bleating  weakly  and  piteously,  and  gave  every  evidence  of  being  in  a 
starved  condition,  with  no  mother  seals  near  or  showing  them,  any 
attention. 

Dr.  Dawson  while  on  the  ground  took  some  views  of  the  rookery  with 
his  kodak,  but  whether  the  views  he  took  included  the  dead  pups  I 
could  not  say.  Some  days  after  this  —  can  not  state  exact  date  —  I  drove 
with  Mr.  Fowler,  an  employee  of  the  lessees,  to  what  is  known  as  Half- 
way Point,  or  Polavina  rookery.  Here  the  scene  was  repeated,  but  on 
a  more  extensive  scale  in  point  of  numbers.  The  little  carcasses  were 
strewn  so  thickly  over  the  sand  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  walk  over  the 
ground  without  stepping  on  them.  This  condition  of  the  rookeries  in 
this  regard  was  for  some  time  a  topic  of  conversation  in  the  village  by 
all  parties,  including  the  more  intelligent  ones  among  the  natives,  some 
of  whom  were  with  Mr.  J.  Stanley  Brown  in  his  work  of  surveying  the 
island,  and  brought  in  reports  from  time  to  time  of  similar  conditions 
at  substantially  all  the  rookeries  around  the  island.  It  could  not,  of 
course,  be  well  estimated  as  to  the  number  thus  found  dead,  but  the 
most  intelligent  of  the  natives  —  chief  of  the  village  —  told  me  that  in  his 
judgment  there  were  not  less  than  20,000  dead  pups  on  the  various 
rookeries  of  the  island,  and  others  still  dying.  Dr.  Akerly,  the  lessees7 
physician  at  the  time,  made  an  autopsy  of  some  of  the  carcasses,  and 
reported  that  he  could  find  no  traces  of  any  diseased  condition  what- 
ever, but  there  was  an  entire  absence  of  food  or  any  signs  of  nourish- 
ment in  the  stomach.  Before  Dr.  Dawson  left  I  called  his  attention  to 
what  Dr.  Akerly  had  done,  but  whether  he  saw  him  on  the  subject  I 
can  not  tell. 

And  further  deponent  saith  not.  MILTON  BARNES. 


128  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Deposition  of  C.  L.  Hooper,  captain,  United  States  Revenue  Marine. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss  : 
Personally  appeared  before  me,  C.  L.  Hooper,  who  deposes  and  says: 

T7t ^.T-  _       * —A*--.  j_*  -  -  •  i       -i  •  /»  i-w 


ducted 

May, 

September;  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Aleutian  chain  during  the  month  of 

October  and  part  of  November,  as  well  as  from  the  experience  obtained 

in  six  other  cruises  in  Alaskan  waters  and  in  Bering  Sea,  I  draw  the 

following  conclusions : 

There  were  fewer  seals  to  be  seen  in  the  water  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Pribilof  Islands  during  the  summer  of  1892  than  in  1891. 

At  least  75  per  cent,  and  probably  80  or  90  per  cent,  of  the  seals  in 
Bering  Sea,  outside  of  a  narrow  zone  around  the  seal  islands,  are  females, 
75  per  cent  of  which  are  nursing  mothers  and  the  remaining  25  per 
cent  virgin  cows  too  immature  for  bearing. 

If  barren  cows  exist  at  all  they  are  rare.  1  have  never  known  or 
heard  of  but  one  instance. 

In  Bering  Sea  mothers  go  long  distances — as  far  as  200  miles  from  the 
islands — to  feed,  codfish  furnishing  the  bulk  of  their  food. 

They  sleep  much  in  the  water,  are  not  timid,  and  are  readily  taken; 
and  their  death  means  the  destruction  of  three  lives — the  mother,  the 
fetus,  and  the  pup — on  the  breeding  grounds.  The  past  season  is  the 
first  in  several  years  that  such  deaths  among  the  pups  have  not  occurred 
from  this  source. 

At  least  70  per  cent,  and  probably  80  or  90  per  cent,  of  any  catch  in 
Bering  Sea  will  be  females,  either  actually  bearing  or  capable  of  bear- 
ing at  no  distant  day.  This  is  borne  out  by  the  character  of  the  skins 
of  the  Henrietta,  seized  last  summer  for  the  violation  of  the  modus 
vivendi.  The  captain  informed  me  that  nearly  all  the  skins  taken  were 
those  of  male  seals.  Under  my  direction  an  examination  was  made  of 
these  skins  by  N.  Hodgson,  a  man  of  experience,  in  whom  I  have  entire 
confidence.  The  catch,  as  shown  by  the  log  and  sealing  book  of  this 
vessel,  was  made  in  Bering  Sea  and  consists  of  420  skins,  361  of  which 
were  found  to  be  females,  33  males,  and  26  those  of  seals  too  young  to 
determine  the  sex. 

For  every  100  seals,  the  death  of  which  results  from  pelagic  hunting, 
not  more  than  05  or  75  skins  are  secured. 

The  female  seals  are  widely  distributed  over  the  sea,  and  hence  the 
establishment  of  zonal  areas  would  be  rendered  impossible  by  climatic 
conditions. 

There  is  a  wide  belt  of  200  or  300  miles  between  the  Commander  and 
Pribilof  groups  of  islands  which  are  devoid  of  seals,  and  hence  no  com- 
mingling of  the  herds  occur. 

There  is  no  foundation  for  the  statement  that  during  the  summer 
months  there  are  found  in  Bering  Sea  bodies  of  seals  which  are  inde- 
pendent of,  unattached  to,  or  do  not  visit  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

The  annual  migration  is  caused  by  climatic  conditions  and  feed 
supply. 

The  old  bulls  are  the  first  to  leave  the  islands,  and  most  of  them, 
together  with  many  half  bulls  and  large  bachelors,  remain  in  the  waters 
of  Bering  Sea  and  off  the  coast  of  Alaska  during  the  entire  winter, 
individuals  rarely  being  found  south  of  the  fifty-fifth  parallel. 

The  major  part  of  the  herd,  consisting  of  females  and  their  pups  and 


(SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  129 

Ling  males,  begin  to  migrate  about  the  end  of  October,  and  by  Janu- 
ary 1  all  of  them  have  begun  their  migration.  These  dates  are  some- 
what earlier  or  later,  according  to  the  season. 

Those  that  leave  earliest  go  farthest  south,  arriving  on  the  coast  of 
California,  and  those  leaving  later  reach  the  coast  farther  up.  Their 
arrival  is  coincident  with  the  coming  of  the  smelt,  herring,  and  eulaclion, 
upon  which  they  feed. 

On  reaching  the  coast  their  migration  route  is  continually  toward 
the  islands,  but  following  the  general  trend  of  the  coast,  the  inner  limit 
being  about  1^5  miles  offshore  and  the  outer  limit  from  75  to  100. 

As  this  migration  progresses  there  is  a  bunching  up  of  the  herd,  but 
the  seals  travel  independently  and  not  in  bands  or  schools. 

The  migration  route  is  from  the  Pribilof  Islands  through  the  passes 
across  to  the  coast,  up  the  coast  and  across  the  northern  sweep  of  the 
North  Pacific  to  the  Aleutian  Chain,  and  through  the  passes  again  to 
the  islands. 

There  is  no  foundation  in  the  statement  that  the  Pribilof  fur  seals 
which  migrate  have  a  winter  home  off  any  coast.  They  appear  at  about 
the  same  time  off  a  long  line  of  coast,  reaching  from  California  to 
Washington.  When  they  are  so  found  they  are  known,  always  to  be 
moving  northward  up  the  coast. 

The  herd,  by  reason  of  hunting  at  sea,  has  steadily  diminished,  and 
such  hunting  will  ultimately  destroy  the  herd  unless  prohibited  in  the 
North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  for  no  matter  how  small  the  annual  catch 
may  be  there  is  a  possibility  that  the  hunt  will  always  be  encouraged 
by  the  higher  prices  resulting  from  the  decreasd  catch,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  sea  otter. 

C.  L.  HOOPER. 


Deposition  of  H.  H.  Mclntyre,  superintendent  of  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss  : 

H.  H.  Mclntyre,  of  West  Randolph,  Vt.,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes 
and  says: 

I  have  stated  in  former  depositions  my  connection  with  the  sealeries 
of  Alaska  and  opportunities  for  knowledge  concerning  them. 

When  the  breeding  male  seals  first  arrive  upon  the  islands  in  the 
spring  they  are  much  more  timid  and  easily  disturbed  than  at  a  later 
period,  and  might  perhaps  be  then  driven  from  their  chosen  places  upon 
the  rookeries,  but  at  a  later  date,  when  their  relation  to  their  neighbors 
is  fairly  established  and  the  cows  begin  to  arrive,  no  amount  of  force 
will  dislodge  them,  and  they  will  die  in  defense  of  their  harems  rather 
than  desert  them. 

In  June,  1872, 1  carried  a  photographer's  camera  near  the  Eeef  rookery 
on  St.  Paul  Island  and  while  focusing  the  instrument,  with  my  head 
under  the  black  cloth,  and  the  attention  of  my  attendant  was  diverted, 
two  old  bulls  made  a  savage  assault  upon  me,  which  I  avoided  by  dodg- 
ing and  running.  The  camera  was  left  where  I  had  placed  it  and  could 
not  be  recovered  until  seal  clubs  had  been  sent  for  and  one  of  the  bulls 
killed  and  the  other  knocked  down  and  stunned.  The  throwing  of 
stones  and  noisy  demonstrations  had  no  effect  whatever  upon  them. 
This  experience  only  emphasized  what  I  have  observed  on  many  occa- 
sions upon  the  islands.  The  female  seals  are  more  timid,  and  upon  the 
near  approach  of  man  show  signs  of  fear  and  generally  move  toward  the 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt. 


130  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIB1LOF    ISLANDS. 

water,  but  tlieir  flight  is  resisted  by  the  bulls,  and  before  impregnation 
they  rarely  succeed  in  escaping.  After  this  occurs  the  discipline  of  the 
harem  is  relaxed  and  the  females  go  and  come  at  will. 

1  neither  saw  nor  heard,  in  my  twenty  years'  experience  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  sealeries,  of  any  destruction  of  pups  by  reason  of  stam- 
pedes of  seals.  But  I  have  occasionally  witnessed  the  death  of  pups 
from  being  trampled  upon  by  the  old  bulls  during  their  battles  for 
supremacy.  This  is,  however,  of  rare  occurrence.  Even  if  stampedes 
occurred,  the  light  bodies  of  the  females,  averaging  only  80  or  90  pounds, 
would  pass  over  a  lot  of  pups  without  seriously  injuring  them. 

Later  in  the  season,  after  the  old  bulls  have  been  superseded  on  the 
rookeries  by  the  jounger  ones,  the  pups  are  already  able  to  avoid  being 
run  over,  and  as  a  matter  of  lact  the  death  of  pups  upon  the  rookeries 
from  any  cause  whatever  prior  to  the  advent  of  pelagic  sealers  in  Bering 
Sea  was  so  rare  as  to  occasion  no  comment. 

It  was  not  customary  to  drive  from  any  points  near  enough  to  the 
breeding  rookeries  to  cause  stampedes,  and  even  if  this  had  been  done 
I  do  not  think  any  injury  to  the  rookeries  would  have  been  occasioned 
by  it.  It  might  cause  some  of  the  cows  to  move  away,  but  they  would 
soon  return  again. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  determine  the  average  number  of  females  prop- 
erly assignable  to  a  single  male,  and  difficult  even  to  ascertain  how 
many  there  are  in  any  given  family,  because  the  boundaries  of  the  groups 
are  never  well  defined,  and  such  as  would  be  said  by  one  observer  to 
belong  to  a  certain  bull  would  be  declared  by  another  to  be  in  a  different 
harem.  The  surface  of  the  ground  mainly  occupied  as  breeding  rook- 
eries is  very  irregular.  Harems  sometimes  run  together.  Ledges, 
bowlders,  and  lava  rocks  hinder  the  uniform  mapping  of  the  family 
groups,  and  it  is  not  difficult,  therefore,  to  select  certain  spots  and  count 
a  number  of  female  seals  which  appear  to  be  unattached  to  any  male. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  are  often  found  full-grown  males  upon  the  rook- 
eries at  all  seasons  with  no  families,  and  a  still  larger  number  with  from 
one  to  five  females  each.  Such  variations  have  always  occurred. 

With  our  present  knowledge  of  seal  life,  it  is  impossible  to  judge  with 
any  degree  of  accuracy  how  many  females  may  safely  be  referred  to  a 
single  male.  But,  by  analogy,  it  is  a  very  much  larger  number  than 
has  frequently  been  named  as  a  fair  average. 

Horse  breeders  regard  a  healthy  stallion  as  capable  of  serving  from 
40  to  50  mares  in  a  single  season;  cattle  breeders  apportion  at  least  40 
cows  to  a  bull,  and  sheep  raisers  regard  from  30  to  40  ewes  as  not  too 
many  for  a  single  ram,  and  in  the  latter  case,  at  least,  the  season  of 
service  is  no  longer  than  that  permitted  to  the  male  seal.  I  think  it 
would  be  safe  to  place  an  average  of  40  or  50  seals  to  a  harem  as  not 
excessive. 

It  is  not  unusual  during  the  early  years  of  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company's  lease  to  find  exceptionally  large  harems  containing  from  50 
to  100  females  each,  but  we  saw  no  reason  to  doubt  that  they  were  fully 
served  by  the  male. 

The  erroneous  idea  seems  to  have  gained  lodgment  that  during  the 
first  decade  of  the  lease  a  reserve  of  breeding  seals  was  kept  on  certain 
rookeries,  and  that  toward  the  end  of  this  decade  it  became  necessary 
to  draw  on  these  rookeries  because  killing  100,000  seals  per  annum  had 
been  too  much  of  a  drain  upon  the  herd.  This  has  no  foundation  in 
fact.  In  the  early  years  of  the  lease  the  transportation  facilities  upon 
the  islands,  both  by  land  and  water,  were  very  limited,  and,  as  the 
Government  agent  in  charge  (Captain  Bryant)  did  not  object,  we  con- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  131 

suited  our  convenience  and  drove  more  frequently  from  near-by  rook- 
eries, but  at  all  times  worked  the  more  distant  rookeries  more  or  less 
frequently,  as  appears  by  tlie  seal  island  records.  His  successors  in 
otlice  theorized  that  all  the  rookeries  ought  to  be  worked  in  regular 
rotation,  mid  so  directed.  We  therefore  increased  our  number  of  boats 
and  mule  teams  in  order  to  transport  the  skins  from  distant  points,  and 
complied  with  his  orders.  But  we  did  not  do  this  because  of  any 
scarcity  of  killable  seals;  no  scarcity  occurred  until  pelagic  sealing 
had  already  made  serious  inroads.  There  was  no  such  thing  ever 
thought  of  upon  the  islands  as  "reserves  of  seals,"  nor  was  any  differ- 
ent practice  pursued  in  respect  to  driving  from  year  to  year,  except 
that  all  rookeries  were  worked  more  systematically  after  the  first  few 
years  of  the  lease. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  first  lease  a  few  of  the  bundles  of  seal  skins 
shipped  from  the  Pribilof  Islands  may  have  weighed  as  much  as  60 
pounds,  but  1  would  not  undertake  to  say  that  I  have  seen  any  weighing 
as  much.  If  there  were  any,  the  explanation  is  as  follows:  The  skins 
in  such  bundles  were  those  of  small  wigs,  and  such  skins  were  bundled 
together  so  that  the  flesh  sides  should  be  covered  completely  and  no 
overlapping  edges  left. 

Excrement  is  voided  by  seals  upon  the  rookeries  as  often,  I  think,  as 
by  other  carnivorous  animals.  Those  who  assert  the  contrary  appar- 
ently expect  such  discharges  as  they  were  accustomed  to  see  in  the 
track  of  the  herbivora.  The  excrement  of  the  seals  is  of  very  soft,  often 
semifluid  consistency,  and  in  the  porous  soil  or  on  the  smooth  rocks  is 
easily  brushed  about  by  the  trailing  flippers  of  the  seals  and  lost  sight 
of.  Their  food  is  chiefly  fish,  which  is  highly  organized  and  contains 
very  little  tissue  that  is  not  absorbed  and  assimilated.  The  excrement, 
therefore,  is  limited  in  quantity,  even  when  the  animal  is  full  fed,  and 
from  its  nature  and  surroundings  easily  overlooked. 

H.   H.   MdNTYRE. 


HABITS,  AND  MANAGEMENT   OF   SEALS  ON  ROOKERIES,  AND  PELAGIC 

SEALING. 

Deposition  of  L.  A.  Noyes,  resident  physician  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  from 

1880  to  1892. 

ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND,  PRIBILOF  GROUP, 

Alaska,  ss: 

L.  A.  ^Toyes,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native 
American,  and  my  home  is  in  Randolph,  Vt.;  I  am  52  years  of  age,  and 
a  physician  by  profession. 

In  1880  I  entered  the  service  of  the  lessees  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  as 
resident  physician  at  the  seal  islands,  and  I  have  resided  here  continu- 
ously ever  since,  excepting  an  occasional  visit  to  my  home  for  a  few 
months  in  winter,  once  or  twice  since  1880. 

From  June,  1880,  to  August,  1883,  I  was  on  St.  George  Island,  and 
from  1883  to  1884  I  was  on  St.  Paul  Island.  I  then  returned  to  St. 
George,  where  I  have  resided  ever  since,  except  the  vacations  aforesaid. 

I  have  given  much  time  to  the  study  of  the  Alaskan  fur  seal  and  its 
peculiar  habits,  and  I  have  watched  with  care  and  solicitude  the 
increase  and  the  decline  in  numbers  of  the  animal  on  the  hauling 
grounds  and  rookeries,  and  also  the  methods  followed  by  the  lessees  in 
taking  the  skins— the  driving  and  killing  of  the  young  males  of  from 


132  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

2  to  5  years  old,  and  the  salting,  curing,  bundling,  and  shipping  the 
skins.  I  have  likewise  carefully  observed  and  noted  the  coming  of  the 
seals  in  the  spring,  the  hauling  out  at  different  times  of  the  various 
ages  and  sexes,  their  disposition  on  the  hauling  grounds  and  rookeries, 
the  formation  of  the  uharem"  or  family,  the  breaking  up  of  the  harems, 
the  scattering  of  the  cows,  and  the  general  intermingling  of  the  sexes 
in  September,  and  finally  the  departure  of  the  herd  from  the  islands  in 
November  or  later. 

I  have  read  most  of  all  that  has  been  written  within  the  past  quarter 
century  on  the  fur-seal  question,  and  I  have  listened  to  and  taken  part 
in  many  of  the  controversies  indulged  in  by  my  associates  and  friends 
who  have  spent  many  years  in  the  fur-seal  industry,  and  whose  practi- 
cal experience,  with  all  its  details,  gives  weight  and  value  to  their  asser- 
tions. It  was  I  who,  at  the  request  of  the  United  States  Treasury 
agent  in  charge  of  the  islands,  measured  all  the  rookeries  and  hauling 
grounds  on  St.  George  island  in  1887, ]  and  I  have  kept  the  record  of 
the  climatic  changes  on  St.  George  since  the  United  States  Government 
discontinued  the  ineterological  station  at  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

In  addition  to  my  services  as  physician  I  have  occasionally  taught 
the  school  on  St.  George,  and  I  have  kept  the  books  and  accounts  for 
many  years  for  the  lessees  on  the  same  island.  1  am  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  orders  issued  by  the  general  and  local  agents  of  the 
lessees  to  the  native  chiefs  in  regard  to  everything  appertaining  to  the 
business  of  taking  the  annual  catch  and  the  care  of  the  seals.  I  have 
been  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Treasury  agents  who  have  had 
charge  of  the  islands  since  1880,  and  I  acted  as  assistant  agent  myself 
during  the  temporary  absence  of  the  assistant  special  agent.  I  am 
quite  familiar  with  the  general  and  special  orders  and  instructions 
issued  from  the  Treasury  Department  from  time  to  time  to  the  special 
agents  for  the  government  of  the  natives  and  the  care  of  the  rookeries 
and  seal  herd;  and  I  know  those  laws,  rules,  and  regulations  have 
been  faithfully  adhered  to  and  fully  enforced,  published  reports  of 
transient  visitors  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  seal  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  geographically  known 
as  the  Pribilof  Islands,  are  situated  in  Bering  Sea  at  about  170°  west 
from  Greenwich  and  56°  north  latitude,  and  they  are  nearly  200  miles 
from  the  nearest  land. 

The  climatic  conditions  in  their  immediate  vicinity  are  so  peculiar 
and  their  formation  and  situation  are  so  unique  that  it  is  not  hard  to 
believe  they  were  selected  for  a  home  and  resting  place  by  the  Alaskan 
fur  seal  because  of  their  adaptability  to  that  purpose  and  to  that  only. 
The  thermometer  rarely  goes  higher  than  60°  or  lower  than  zero,  the 
average  for  a  number  of  years  being  35°. 

In  winter  the  islands  are  sometimes  surrounded  by  broken  ice,  which 
comes  from  the  north,  and  it  will  come  and  go  with  the  tide  and  currents, 
generally  from  January  to  April,  but  occasionally  remaining  later,  and 
again  not  appearing  at  all. 

In  June,  July,  and  part  of  August  the  islands  are  enveloped  for  days 
at  a  time  in  dense  fog,  and  a  clear  sunny  day  is  of  rare  occurrence.  The 
atmosphere  is  damp  and  cool,  and  the  rain  falls  in  a  sort  of  fine  mist 
which  drenches  one  through  before  it  is  felt. 

The  islands  are  of  volcanic  origin,  and  the  shores  are  rough,  uneven 
lava  rock,  and  broken  rocks  and  bowlders  of  like  formation.  On  this 

1  The  measurements  were  made  very  imperfectly,  and  I  never  claimed  anything  but 
an  approximate  measurement.  It  was  my  opinion  that  the  numbers  were  exagger- 
ated, and  I  so  stated  at  the  time. — L.  A.  N. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIB1LOF    ISLANDS.  133 

rugged  shore  the  Alaskan  fur  seals  make  their  summer  home;  here  they 
are  born  and  reared  for  the  first  six  months  of  their  existence;  here 
they  come  every  spring  as  regular  as  time,  and  here  they  reproduce  their 
species.  The  career  of  the  fur-seal  herd  on  these  shores  is  not  unlike 
that  of  any  domesticated  animal — it  is  simply  a  stock-breeding  question. 

Areas  upon  which  it  is  agreeable  for  the  females  to  breed  are  carefully 
reserved  and  set  aside  for  that  purpose. 

Each  year  a  sufficient  number  of  breeding  bulls  are  reserved  for  serv- 
ice on  the  rookeries.  The  utmost  care  is  taken  that  the  future  of  the 
herd  is  not  jeopaydi/ed  by  the  injury  or  death  of  a  female. 

So  accustomed  have  the  seals  become  to  the  presence  of  the  natives 
that  the  timidity  and  shyness  manifested  in  the  ocean  is  not  shown  on 
the  islands.  In  their  infancy  the  pups  will  approach  a  native  without 
fear,  and  later  on  they  are  readily  handled  and  the  sexes  separated, 
should  it  be  necessary  to  make  a  killing  of  pups  for  food.  In  the  han- 
dling, management,  and  enlargement  of  the  seal  herd  there  is  as  much 
amenability  to  domestication  as  there  is  in  a  band  of  range  cattle. 

The  male  breeding  seals,  or  bulls,  begin  to  haul  out  on  the  breeding 
rookeries  early  in  May,  and  they  come  in  more  and  more  rapidly  as  the 
month  advances,  and,  selecting  their  respective  stations,  lie  down  and 
sleep  almost  continuously  until  within  a  few  days  of  the  coming  of  the 
females,  or  cows,  when  they  assume  a  sitting  posture,  and  set  up  a  bel- 
lowing noise  peculiar  to  themselves,  which  I  suppose  to  be  a  "  call" 
to  the  approaching  herd  of  cows.  It  is  at  this  time  the  bull  appears  at 
his  best  and  in  his  most  aggressive  mood,  and  none  but  the  physically 
strong  and  successful  are  allowed  to  remain  within  striking  distance  of 
the  veterans. 

The  cows  begin  to  haul  out  in  June,  and  practically  they  are  all  on 
the  breeding  rookeries  by  July  15.  Immediately  on  arriving  they  are 
taken  possession  of  by  the  bulls,  the  strongest  and  most  aggressive 
securing  the  greatest  number  and  guarding  with  jealous  care  and 
increasing  vigilance. 

As  a  rule  the  pups  are  born  soon  after  the  cows  reach  the  shore, 
though  it  occasionally  happens  that  a  cow  will  be  two  or  three  days  on 
the  rookery  before  bringing  forth  her  young. 

I  think  the  pups  are  all  born  by  July  22,  and  by  the  middle  of  August 
the  cows  have  been  fertilized  for  the  next  year,  after  which  the  harems 
are  abandoned  and  the  bulls  begin  to  leave  the  islands,  and  the  females 
and  bachelors  (or  young  males)  intermingle  indiscriminately  on  the 
rookeries.  From  the  time  the  bulls  haul  out  in  May  till  they  leave  in 
September  they  neither  eat  nor  drink,  and  their  lean  and  lanky  appear- 
ance in  September  is  in  striking  contrast  with  their  rotund  form  and 
sleek  and  glossy  coats  in  May. 

When  the  pup  is  born  it  is  utterly  helpless  and  dependent.  It  is  not 
amphibious,  and  would  drown  if  put  into  water.  I  have  often  watched 
the  pups  near  the  water's  edge  when  in  stormy  weather  the  surf  carried 
them  off,  and  in  every  instance  they  drowned  as  soon  as  they  went  into 
deep  water.  The  pup  is  entirely  dependent  on  its  dam  for  sustenance, 
and  when  it  is  a  few  days  old  she  goes  into  the  sea  to  feed,  returning  at 
intervals  of  a  few  hours  at  first,  and  gradually  lengthening  the  time  as 
the  pups  grow  older  and  stronger,  until  she  will  be  sometimes  away  for 
a  whole  week.  During  these  journeys,  in  my  opinion,  she  goes  a  dis- 
tance of  from  40  to  200  miles  from  the  islands  to  feed,  and  it  is  at  this 
time  she  falls  a  prey  to  the  pelagic  hunter. 

Returned  to  the  rookery,  the  cow  goes  straight  to  the  spot  where  she 
left  her  pup,  and  it  seems  she  instantly  recognizes  it  by  smelling;  and 


134  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

it  is  equally  certain  that  the  pup  can  not  recognize  its  dam.  I  have 
often  seen  pups  attempt  to  suck  cows  promiscuously,  yet  no  cow  will 
suckle  any  pup  but  her  own.  When  five  or  six  weeks  old  the  pups  begin 
to  run  around  and  form  bunches  or  upods;"  at  seven  to  eight  weeks 
old  they  try  the  water  at  the  edge,  where,  after  paddling  in  the  shallows, 
they  gradually  learn  to  swim.  After  becoming  expert  swimmers  they 
continue  to  show  a  preference  for  land,  where  they  generally  remain  if 
not  driven  into  the  water  by  heavy  rain  or  warm  sunshine.  They  make 
no  eifort  to  secure  sustenance  of  any  sort  beyond  that  furnished  by 
their  dams. 

I  have  examined  many  pups  at  the  food  killings  in  November,  and  I 
never  found  anything  but  milk  in  their  stomachs. 

The  young  males  or  bachelors,  whose  skins  are  taken  by  the  lessees, 
begin  to  haul  out  in  May,  and  they  continue  to  haul  out  until  late  in 
July,  the  older  ones  coming  first  and  the  younger  ones  later;  and  they 
herd  by  themselves  during  May,  June,  and  July,  because  were  they 
to  approach  the  breeding  grounds  the  bulls  would  drive  them  off  or 
destroy  them. 

The  bachelors  of  from  2  to  5  years  old  are  the  only  seals  driven  or 
killed  on  the  seal  islands  by  anyone  or  for  any  purpose,  and  the  sensa- 
tional stories  told  of  how  they  are  tortured  on  the  drive  have  no  founda- 
tion in  fact.  When  necessary  to  make  a  drive  for  skins  from  any  given 
rookery,  the  local  agent  of  the  lessees  informs  the  Treasury  agent,  and 
obtains  his  permission  to  make  the  drive.  No  seals  are  driven  without 
the  consent  of  the  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  the  island.  All  being 
ready,  the  native  chief  takes  a  squad  of  men  to  the  hauling  ground, 
where  the  seals  are  quietly  surrounded  without  disturbing  the  breeding 
rookery,  and  they  are  then  driven  slowly  along  to  the  killing  ground. 

Since  the  improved  methods  of  1879  there  are  no  drives  of  greater 
.length  than  2J  miles,  and  the  majority  of  them  do  not  exceed  1  mile. 
So  carefully  and  so  slowly  are  the  drives  made,  the  men  driving  are 
relieved  every  hour,  because  of  the  slow  motion  they  get  chilled  on  the 
road.  Arrived  at  the  killing  grounds,  the  seals  are  driven  out  from  the 
main  body  in  "pods"  of  20  or  30  at  a  time,  and  experienced  men  club 
and  kill  the  desirable  ones,  and  allow  all  that  remain  to  return  at  their 
leisure  to  the  adjacent  waters.  The  most  experienced  men  do  the  skin- 
ning, and  after  them  come  the  women  and  children,  who  carry  off  the 
carcasses  for  food  and  the  fat  or  blubber  for  winter  fuel. 

In  accordance  with  instructions  from  the  Department,  the  Treasury 
agent  is  always  present  at  the  killings,  and  he  has  full  power  and 
authority  to  interfere  in  all  cases  where  there  is  cruelty  practiced  or 
attempted. 

All  seals  killed  by  the  lessees  for  skins  are  killed  between  June  1  and 
July  30,  and  generally  the  season  closes  on  the  20th  of  July. 

After  the  regular  season  closes,  in  July,  the  natives  kill,  weekly,  for 
food,  from  100  to  200  male  seals  whose  skins  are  large  enough  to  be 
accepted  as  part  of  the  next  year's  quota;  and  it  is  during  these  food 
drives  in  August,  September,  and  October  that  an  occasional  female  is 
accidentally  killed.  Being  mixed  with  the  bachelors  at  this  time,  some 
females  are  driven  and  accidentally  killed.  The  killing  of  a  female  is 
the  greatest  crime  known  on  the  seal  islands  and  is  never  done  inten- 
tionally. Of  this  I  am  most  positive,  for  I  know  that  every  possible 
precaution  has  been  taken  to  guard  against  it,  and  I  believe  there  have 
not  been  100  females  killed  on  St.  George  Island  since  1880,  if  I  may 
except  some  killed  by  poachers  who  were  driven  off  before  they  secured 
the  skins  of  the  seals  they  had  killed. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  135 

Never  since  the  islands  have  been  American  property  has  there  been 
indiscriminate  killing  done  upon  them,  nor  has  there  been  a  desire  on 
the  part  of  anyone  connected  with  them  to  injure  or  damage  or  waste 
seal  life;  on  the  contrary,  everything  has  been  done  by  the  lessees,  past 
and  present,  and  by  the  United  States,  to  foster  and  protect  it,  and  to 
improve  the  methods  of  driving  the  seals,  so  that  the  herds  might  grow 
and  thrive  and  increase,  and  perpetuate  themselves  indefinitely.  Laws, 
rules,  and  regulations  were  made  from  time  to  time,  prompted  by  expe- 
rience, with  a  view  to  add  to  the  value1  of  the  property  and  to  abolish 
everything  that  was  not  beneficial  and  in  strict  accord  with  the  most 
humane  principles.  To  this  end  all  long  drives  were  prohibited  and 
arrangements  made  by  which  the  killing  grounds  have  been  brought 
as  near  the  hauling  grounds  as  is  practicable  without  being  injurious 
to  the  breeding  rookeries. 

Orders  were  issued  by  which  the  driving  is  regulated  in  such  manner 
that  no  hauling  grounds  are  molested  or  disturbed  more  than  another, 
and,  being  taken  in  rotation,  the  seals  are  allowed  several  days  rest 
between  drives.  The  rules  for  driving  are  so  strict,  so  rigidly  enforced, 
and  so  faithfully  carried  out  that  I  hardly  know  how  they  could  be 
improved  upon. 

In  my  opinion  the  cows  are  the  only  seals  that  go  into  the  sea  to  feed 
from  the  time  they  haul  out  in  May  till  they  leave  the  islands  in  Novem- 
ber or  December,  and  my  opinion  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the  seals 
killed  in  May  have  plenty  of  food  in  their  stomachs,  mostly  codfish, 
while  those  killed  in  July  have  no  signs  of  anything  like  food  in  their 
stomachs. 

Again,  the  males  killed  for  food  as  the  season  advances  are  found  to 
be  poorer  and  poorer,  and  in  all  cases  after  July  their  stomachs  are 
empty.  I  am  convinced,  therefore,  that  none  but  mother  seals  go  into 
the  sea  to  feed  during  the  summer  months,  and  this  accounts  for  the 
sudden  decrease  in  the  herd  after  the  sealing  schooners  became  so 
numerous  in  Bering  Sea  about  1884.  The  decrease  in  the  number  of 
seals  coming  to  the  islands  in  the  last  three  or  four  years  became  so 
manifest  to  everyone  acquainted  with  the  rookeries  in  earlier  days  that 
various  theories  have  been  advanced  in  an  attempt  to  account  for  the 
cause  of  this  sudden  change,  and  the  following  are  some  of  them:  First, 
a  dearth  of  bulls  upon  the  breeding  rookeries;  second,  impotency  of 
bulls,  caused  by  overdriving  while  they  were  young  bachelors,  and 
third,  an  epidemic  among  the  seals. 

The  "dearth  of-bulls  theory"  has  been  thoroughly  and  impartially 
investigated  without  discovering  a  cow  of  3  years  old  or  over  on  the 
rookeries  without  a  pup  by  her  side  at  the  proper  time,  and  I  am  con- 
vinced that  the  virgin  females  coming  onto  the  rookeries  for  the  first 
time  are  the  only  ones  to  be  found  there  without  pups. 

The  investigation  established  the  additional  fact  that  hundreds  of 
vigorous  bulls  were  lying  idle  on  the  rookeries  without  cows  and  many 
others  had  to  content  themselves  with  only  one  or  two. 

The  theory  of  ui m potency  of  the  bulls  through  overdriving"  while 
young  was  also  found  to  be  untrue,  and  it  was  shown  that  after  1878 
all  long  drives  on  both  islands  had  been  abolished,  and  instead  of 
driving  seals  from  6  to  12  miles,  as  was  done  in  Russian  times,  none 
were  driven  to  exceed  2$  miles. 

It  is  also  a  well-known  fact  that  none  but  the  physically  strong  and 
aggressive  bulls  can  hold  a  position  on  the  rookeries  and  that  a  weak 
or  an  impotent  animal  has  no  desire  to  go  there. 

The  epidemic  theory  was  urged  very  strongly  in  1891,  when  the  rook- 


136  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

eries  were  fouiid  covered  with  dead  pups,  but  a  careful  and  technical 
examination  was  made  on  several  of  the  dead  bodies  without  discover- 
ing a  trace  of  organic  disease,  while  starvation  was  so  apparent  that 
those  who  examined  them  decided  that  it  was  the  true  cause  of  their 
death.  Had  sickness  or  disease  attacked  the  seal  herd,  it  is  only  reason- 
able to  suppose  a  few  grown  seals  would  be  found  dead  where  so  many 
young  ones  had  died  so  suddenly,  but  the  most  diligent  search  has 
failed  to  find  a  grown  seal  dead  upon  the  islands  from  unknown  causes. 

From  the  discovery  of  tbe  islands  until  the  present  time  the  flesh  of 
the  fur  seal  has  been  the  daily  meat  ration  of  the  natives  and  of  the 
white  people,  and  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  a  tainted  or  diseased  carcass 
has  never  been  known. 

In  my  opinion  the  solution  of  the  problem  is  plain.  It  is  the  shotgun 
and  rifle  of  the  pelagic  hunter  which  are  so  destructive  to  the  cow  seals 
as  they  go  backward  and  forward  to  the  lishing  banks  to  supply  the 
waste  caused  by  giving  nourishment  to  their  young. 

At  this  time  they  are  destroyed  by  thousands  and  their  young  of  but 
a  few  weeks  old  must  necessarily  die  of  starvation,  for  nature  has  pro- 
vided no  other  means  of  subsistence  for  them  at  this  time  of  life. 

Unless  the  pelagic  hunter  is  prevented  from  taking  seals  in  Bering 
Sea  and  in  the  North  Pacific,  the  Alaskan  fur  seal  will  soon  cease  to  be 
of  commercial  value. 

L.  A.  NOYES,  M.  IX 


HABITS    AND    MANAGEMENT    OF     SEALS    AND    RULES    OF    FUR    COM- 
PANIES— PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Deposition  of  J.  C.  Redpath,  agent  of  lessees  on  St.  Paul  Island. 

ST.  PAUL  ISLAND,  PRIBILOF  GROUP, 

Alaska,  ss: 

J.  C.  Redpath,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  an  Ameri- 
can citizen,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  I  am  48  years  of  age.  At 
present  I  am  a  resident  of  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska.  I  have  resided  on 
the  seal  islands  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul  since  my  first  coming  to 
Alaska  in  1875.  My  present  occupation  is  that  of  local  agent  on  St. 
Paul  Island  for  the  present  lessees,  the  North  American  Commercial 
Company.  I  have  a  practical  knowledge  of,  and  am  thoroughly  con- 
versant with,  the  habits  and  conditions  of  the  fur  seal  as  it  exists  on 
the  Pribilof  Islands  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul,  and  also  of  the  methods 
adopted  and  practiced  in  the  taking  of  the  skins,  and  of  the  several 
efforts  made  by  the  former  and  present  lessees,  as  experience  taught 
them,  to  increase  the  herd  and  to  build  up  the  rookeries  and  perpetuate 
seal  life.  I  have  had  a  personal  experience  of  seventeen  seasons  on 
the  killing  grounds,  in  different  situations,  from  that  of  seal  clubber  to 
foreman,  several  years  of  which  I  have  been  the  resident  local  agent. 
My  position  as  local  agent  has  led  me  to  make  a  careful  study  of  the 
seal  question,  and  it  is  my  duty  to  report  from  time  to  time  to  the  gen- 
eral agent  of  the  lessees  the  result  of  my  observations. 

The  Alaskan  fur  seal  is  a  native  of  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and,  unless 
prevented,  will  return  to  these  islands  every  year  with  the  regularity  of 
the  season.  All  the  peculiarities  of  nature  that  surround  the  Pribilof 
group  of  islands,  such  as  low  and  even  temperature,  fog,  mist,  and  per- 
petually clouded  sky,  seem  to  indicate  their  fitness  and  adaptability  as 
a  home  for  the  Alaskan  fur  seal;  and  with  an  instinct  bordering  on 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  137 

reason  they  have  selected  these  lonely  and  barren  islands  as  the  choicest 
spots  of  earth  upon  which  to  assemble  and  dwell  together  during  their 
six  months'  stay  on  land;  and  annually  they  journey  across  thousands 
of  miles  of  ocean  and  pass  hundreds  of  islands,  without  pause  or  rest, 
until  they  come  to  the  place  of  their  birth.  And  it  is  a  well-established 
fact  that  upon  no  other  land  in  the  world  do  the  Alaskan  fur  seal  haul 
out  of  water. 

Early  in  May  the  bulls  approach  the  islands  and,  after  cautiously  and 
carefully  reconnoitering  the  surroundings,  haul  out  and  select  their 
situations  on  the  rookeries,  where  they  patiently  await  the  coming  of 
the  cows.  When  they  lirst  appear  upon  the  rookeries  the  bulls  are  fat 
and  sleek  and  very  aggressive,  but  after  a  stay  of  from  three  to  four 
months,  without  food,  they  crawl  away  from  the  rookeries  in  a  very 
lean  condition.  In  my  opinion  the  bull  seal  returns  to  the  spot  he 
occupied  the  preceding  years,  and  I  know  of  several  instances,  where 
he  could  be  distinguished  by  the  loss  of  an  eye  or  a  flipper,  in  which 
he  actually  did  return  for  a  series  of  years  to  the  same  spot. 

The  mother  seals  or  cows  commence  to  haul  about  June  10,  and  nearly 
all  of  them  are  on  the  rookeries  by  July  15,  and  1  believe  they  bring 
forth  their  young  almost  immediately  after  reaching  their  places  on  the 
rookeries.  When  the  pup  is  from  four  to  six  days  old  the  mother  goes 
into  the  water  for  food  and,  as  time  passes,  her  stay  becomes  longer, 
until  finally  she  will  be  away  from  her  pup  for  several  days  at  a  time, 
and  sometimes  for  a  whole  week.  During  these  longer  migrations  she 
often  goes  200  miles  from  the  rookery,  and  1  have  been  informed  by  men 
who  were  engaged  in  the  trade  of  pelagic  hunting  that  they  had  taken 
"  mothers  in  milk"  at  a  distance  of  200  miles  from  the  seal  islands. 

No  cow  will  nurse  any  pup  but  her  own,  and  I  have  often  watched 
the  pups  attempt  to  suck  cows,  but  they  were  always  driven  off;  and 
this  fact  convinces  me  that  the  cow  recognizes  her  own  pup  and  that 
the  pup  does  not  know  its  dam.  At  birth  and  for  several  weeks  after, 
the  pup  is  utterly  helpless  and  entirely  dependent  on  its  dam  for  sus- 
tenance; and  should  anything  prevent  her  return  during  this  period  it 
dies  on  the  rookery.  This  has  been  demonstrated  beyond  a  doubt  since 
the  sealing  vessels  have  operated  largely  in  Bering  Sea  during  the 
months  of  July,  August,  and  September,  and  which,  killing  the  cows 
at  the  feeding  grounds,  left  the  pups  to  die  on  the  islands. 

At  about  o  weeks  old  the  pups  begin  to  run  about  and  congregate  in 
bunches  or  "  pods,"  and  at  6  to  8  weeks  old  they  go  into  the  shallow 
water  and  gradually  learn  to  swim. 

They  are  not  amphibious  when  born,  nor  can  they  swim  for  several 
weeks  thereafter,  and  were  they  put  into  the  water  would  perish 
beyond  a  doubt,  as  has  been  well  established  by  the  drowning  of  pups 
caught  by  the  surf  in  stormy  weather.  After  learning  to  swim  the 
pups  still  draw  their  sustenance  from  the  cows,  and  I  have  noticed  at 
the  annual  killing  of  pups  for  food  in  November  that  their  stomachs 
were  always  full  of  milk,  and  nothing  else,  although  the  cows  had  left 
the  island  some  days  before.  1  have  no  knowledge  of  the  pups  obtain- 
ing sustenance  of  any  kind  except  that  furnished  by  the  cows;  nor  have 
I  ever  seen  anything  but  milk  in  a  dead  pup's  stomach.  The  young 
males  from  2  to  5  years  old,  whose  skins  are  taken  by  the  lessees,  begin 
to  haul  out  on  land  in  May,  and  they  continue  to  haul  out  till  July. 
They  herd  by  themselves  during  the  months  of  May,  June,  and  July, 
and  they  do  this  because,  during  the  breeding  season,  they  dare  not 
approach  the  breeding  rookeries,  or  the  bulls  would  destroy  them. 
Being  thus  debarred  from  a  position  on  the  breeding  rookeries  or  from 


138  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS. 

intermingling  with  the  cows,  they  herd  together  on  the  hauling  grounds, 
where  they  are  easily  approached  and  surrounded  by  the  natives,  who 
drive  them  to  the  killing  grounds  without  disturbing  the  breeding 

rookeries. 

Young  males  killed  in  .May  and  June,  when  examined  are  found  to 
be  in  prime  condition,  and  their  stomachs  are  tilled  with  lisli — princi- 
pally eodlish — but  those  killed  later  in  the  season  are  found  to  be  poor 
and  lean  and  their  stomachs  empty:  which  shows  that  the  males  rarely 
leave  the  islands  for  food  during  the  summer  months. 

Statute  law  forbids  the  killing  of  the  female  seal,  and  nature  regu- 
lates the  mat  ter  so  that  there  is  no  danger  of  t  heir  being  driven  or  killed 
during  the  regular  killing  season,  which  takes  place  in  June  and  July, 
when  all  the  "killing  for  skins"  is  done;  and  after  ail  my  experience 
here  1  am  free  to  say  that  a  small  fraction  of  1  per  cent  would  repre- 
sent all  the  females  killed  on  the  islands  since  they  became  the  prop- 
erty of  the  I'nited  States. 

The  compact  family  arrangement  so  tenaciously  adhered  to  during 
the  breeding  season  becomes  relaxed  in  August,  and  the  females  scatter, 
and  a  few  of  them  mix  with  the  young  males,  and  when  the  natives 
make  a  drive  for  food  it  occasionally  happens  that  a  female  will  accom- 
pany the  males,  and  sometimes  one  or  two  may  be  accidentally  killed. 
1  use  the  word  "accidentally"  advisedly,  because  there  is  no  good  reason 
why  the  natives  or  the  lessees  should  kill  a  female  designedly,  as  the 
skin  is  of  no  more  use  or  value  (if  so  much),  nor  its  llesh  as  good  for 
food  as  is  that  of  tin1  male.  And.  excepting  accidents,  it  is  a  fact  that 
no  female  seals  are.  or  ever  were,  killed  on  the  Pribilof  islands  since 
American  rules  and  regulations  were  established  there. 

The  regular  killing  season  for  the  skins  under  the  lease  begins  June 
1  and  ends  practically  the  last  of  July:  and  during  this  period  the 
first-class  Alaskan  fur-seal  skins  are  taken.  The  seals  are  driven  from 
the  hauling  to  the  killing  grounds  by  experienced  natives  under  the 
orders  of  the  native  chief,  and  the  constant  aim  and  object  of  all  con- 
cerned is  to  exercise  the  greatest  care  in  driving,  so  that  the  animals 
may  not  be  in  jured  or  abused  in  any  manner.  As  the  regulations  require 
the  lessees  to  pay  for  every  skin  taken  from  seals  killed  by  the  orders 
of  their  local  agents,  and  as  the  skin  of  an  overheated  seal  is  valueless, 
it  is  <iily  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  would  be  the  last  men  living 
to  encourage  and  allow  their  employees  to  overdrive  or  in  any  manner 
injure  the  seals.  I  know  that  the  orders  given  to  me  as  local  agent 
were  alwavs  of  the  most  positive  and  emphatic  kind  on  this  point,  and 
they  were  always  obeyed  to  the  letter.  Instead  of  overdriving  or  neg- 
lect in  LI'  the  seals.  I  he  lessees  have  endeavored  to  do  everything  in  their 
power  to  si  i  oil  en  the  d  i  stance  between  the  hauling  and  killing  grounds, 
or  between  the  hauling  grounds  and  the  sail  house. 

I'.efore  (he  Alaska  Commercial  Company  leased  the  seal  islands  in 
1S70  it  wa^  a  common  practice  to  drive  seals  from  Northeast  Point  to 
the  village  of  St.  1'anl  Island,  a  distance  of  1_J  miles,  ami  from  Xapadnie 
to  the  village  of  St.  (iconic  Island,  a  distance  of  ti  miles,  across  a  very 
rough  and  rn  u'.u'ed  count  r\. 

From  Ilalf-.vay  Point  and  from  Xapadnie  on  St.  Paul  Island  seals 
were  dri ven  respect ively  •">  and  <»  miles.  When  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company  took  control  of  the  islands  the- drive  from  Northeast  Point 
was  prohibited,  and  a  -all  house  and  other  necessary  buildings  erected 
\\  it  1 1  i  ii  i'  miles  of  t  lie  killing  ground,  and  all  the  skins  taken  t  here  were/ 
salted  and  stored  and  shipped  from  Northeast  Point.  In  1ST!)  a  killing 
ground  was  made  and  a  salt  house  built  at  llalfwav  Point,  within  "2 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIIilLOF    ISLANDS.  139 

miles  of  the  hauling  grounds,  and  all  skins  taken  at  the  Point  are  salted 
there.  At  Zapadnie  the  same  year  a  killing  ground  was  made  within 
a  mile  of  the  hauling  ground,  and  the  skins  taken  there  are  taken  to 
the  village  salt  hoase  in  boats,  or  when  the  weather  is  unfavorable  by 
team  and  wagon. 

Since  187S  there  has  not  been  a  drive  made  on  St.  Paul  Island  to 
exceed  U  miles.  At  /apadnie,  St.  George,  a  salt  house  was  built  about 
1ST."*  and  the  (J-mile  drive  prohibited  and  a  trail  made  at  great  expense 
across  the  island,  over  which  the  skins  are  taken  on  pack  saddles  to  the 
village.  Since  1874  no  seals  have  been  driven  on  St.  George  Island  to 
exceed  U.J  miles. 

Although  the  seals  are  comparatively  tame  after  being  on  the  land 
for  a  short  time  and  do  not  get  scared  so  easily  as  is  commonly  supposed, 
the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Treasury  Department  are  very  strict 
on  the  question  of  absolute  protection  to  the  seals  on  the  islands,  and 
the  Treasury  agents  have  always  most  rigidly  enforced  them. 

It  is  uulawi'ul  to  fire.a  gun  on  the  islands  from  the  time  the  first  seal 
appears  in  the  spring  until  the  last  one  leaves  at  the  end  of  the  season; 
and  in  order  to  properly  enforce  this  law  the  firearms  are  taken  from 
the  natives  and  locked  up  in  the  Government  house  in  care  of  the 
Treasury  agents. 

No  person  is  allowed  to  go  near  a  rookery  unless  by  special  order  of 
the  Treasury  agent,  and,  when  driving  from  the  hauling  grounds,  the 
natives  are  forbidden  to  smoke  or  make  any  unusual  noise,  or  to  do  any- 
thing that  might  disturb  or  frighten  the  seals.  All  driving  is  done 
when  the  weather  is  cool  and  moist,  and  when  the  condition  of  the 
weather  demands  it  the  drives  are  made  in  the  cool  of  the  night,  and 
in  no  case  are  seals  driven  at  a  higher  rate  of  speed  than  about  half  a 
mile  an  hour.  So  carefully  is  the  driving  done  that  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  divide  the  native  drivers  into  several  "  watches,"  which 
relieve  each  other  on  the  road,  because  the  pace  being  so  slow  the  men 
get  cold. 

From  1875  to  1883  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  lessees  to  take 
the  annual  quota  of  100,000  skins  between  June  1  and  July  20,  and  yet 
there  was  no  sign  of  any  decrease,  but  rather  an  expansion  of  most  of 
the  rookeries 

I  do  not  pretend  to  be  able  to  say  how  many  seals  there  are,  or  ever 
were,  on  the  rookeries;  nor  do  I  believe  anybody  else  can  tell;  for  the 
rookeries  are  so  broken  and  filled  with  rocks  it  is  impossible  to  esti- 
mate the  number  of  seals  upon  them  with  any  approach  to  accuracy. 
The  lines  of  expansion  and  contraction  are  plain  enough,  and  can  be 
seen  and  understood  by  the  whole  community. 

Unt  1  1884  sealing  schooners  were  seen  but  very  seldom  near  the 
islands  or  in  Bering  Sea,  and  the  few  seals  taken  by  the  hunters  who 
raided  the  rookeries  occasionally  are  too  paltry  to  be  seriously  con- 
sidered, because  the  raids  were  so  few,  and  the  facilities  for  taking 
many  seals  oft  so  utterly  insignificant.  In  1884  the  sealing  schooners 
became  numerous.  I  believe  there  were  about  30  in  the  sea  that  year, 
and  they  have  increased  very  rapidly  every  year  since,  until  now  they 
are  said  to  be  about  120.  As  the  schooners  increased  the  seals  decreased, 
and  the  lines  of  contraction  on  the  rookeries  were  noticed  to  draw  nearer 
and  nearer  to  the  beach,  and  the  killable  seals  became  fewer  in  num- 
bers and  harder  to  find.  In  1886  the  decrease  was  so  plain  that  the 
natives  and  all  the  agents  on  the  islands  saw  it  and  were  startled,  and 
theories  of  all  sorts  were  advanced  in  an  attempt  to  account  for  a  cause. 

A  dearth  of  bulls  on  the  breeding  rookeries  was  a  pet  theory  of  one 


140  SEAL   LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

or  two  transient  visitors,  but  it  only  needed  a  thorough  investigation  of 
the  condition  of  the  rookeries  to  convince  the  most  skeptical  that  there 
were  plenty  of  bulls,  and  to  spare,  and  that  hardly  a  cow  could  be  found 
on  the  rookeries  without  a  pup  at  her  side. 

For  five  years  I  have  given  this  particular  subject  my  most  earnest 
attention,  and  every  succeeding  year's  experience  has  convinced  me 
that  there  is  not,  and  never  was,  a  dearth  of  bulls.  The  theory  of 
impotency  of  the  young  bulls  because  of  overdriving  when  young  is 
not  worthy  of  consideration  by  any  sane  or  honest  man  who  has  ever 
seen  a  bull  seal  on  a  breeding  rookery;  and  as  I  have  already  answered 
the  question  of  overdriving,  I  will  only  add  here  that  no  young  bull 
goes  upon  a  breeding  rookery  until  he  is  able  to  fight  his  way  in,  and 
an  impotent  bull  has  no  desire  to  tight,  nor  could  he  win  a  position  on 
the  rookery  were  he  to  attempt  it.  The  man  is  not  alive  who  ever  saw 
a  6  or  7  year  old  bull  seal  impotent. 

Another  theory,  equally  untrue,  was  that  an  epidemic  had  seized  the 
herd,  but  investigations  of  the  closest  kind  have  never  revealed  the 
death  on  the  islands  of  a  full-grown  seal  from  unknown  causes.  Let  it 
be  remembered  that  the  flesh  of  the  seal  is  the  staple  diet  of  the  natives, 
and  that  it  is  eaten  daily  by  most  of  the  white  employees  as  well;  and 
yet  it  is  true  that  a  sign  of  taint  or  disease  has  never  been  found  on  a 
seal  carcass  in  the  memory  of  man.  It  was  not  until  so  many  thousands 
of  dead  pups  were  found  upon  the  rookeries  that  the  problem  was  solved. 

The  truth  is  that  when  the  cows  go  out  to  the  feeding  grounds  to  feed 
they  are  shot  and  killed  by  the  pelagic  hunter,  and  the  pups,  deprived 
of  sustenance,  die  upon  the  rookeries.  Excepting  a  few  pups  killed  by 
the  surf  occasionally,  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  all  the  pups  found 
dead  are  poor  and  starved,  and  when  examined  their  stomachs  are  found 
to  be  without  a  sign  of  food  of  any  sort.  In  1891  the  rookeries  on  St. 
Paul  Island  were  covered  in  places  with  dead  pups,  all  of  which  had 
every  symptom  of  having  died  of  hunger,  and  on  opening  several  of 
them  the  stomachs  were  found  to  be  empty. 

The  resident  physician,  Dr.  Akerly,  examined  many  of  them  and 
found  in  every  instance  that  starvation  was  the  cause  of  death.  The 
lowest  estimate  made  at  the  time,  placing  the  number  of  dead  pups  on 
the  rookeries  at  25,000,  is  not  too  high 

It  has  been  said  that  man  can  do  nothing  to  facilitate  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  fur  seal.  My  experience  does  not  support  this.  The  reser- 
vation of  females  and  the  killing  of  the  surplus  males,  so  that  each 
bull  can  have  a  reasonable  number  of  cows,  is  more  advantageous  to 
the  growth  of  the  rookeries  than  when  in  a  state  of  nature  bulls  killed 
each  other  in  their  efforts  to  secure  a  single  cow. 

The  same  care  can  be  and  is  exercised  in  the  handling  and  manage- 
ment of  the  seal  herd  as  is  bestowed  by  a  ranchman  upon  his  bauds  of 
ranging  stock,  and  is  productive  of  like  results.  The  seals  have  become 
so  accustomed  to  the  natives  that  the  presence  of  the  latter  does  not 
disturb  them.  The  pups  are  easily  handled  by  the  natives,  and  for- 
merly, when  used  as  an  article  of  food,  thousands  of  pups  were  actually 
picked  up  and  examined,  in  accordance  with  Government  requirement, 
to  avoid  the  killing  of  a  female.  So  easily  are  the  seals  controlled 
that,  when  a  drive  of  bachelors  is  made  to  the  killing  grounds,  a  guard 
of  two  or  three  small  boys  is  sufficient  to  keep  them  from  straying, 
and  from  the  general  band  any  number  from  one  upward  can  be 
readily  cut  out.  It  is  possible  in  the  future,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past, 
to  reserve  unmolested  suitable  areas  to  serve  as  breeding  grounds;  to 
set  aside  each  year  a  proper  number  of  young  males  for  future  service 


SEAL    LIFE    ON, THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  141 

upon  the  rookeries,  and  by  the  application  of  the  ordinary  stock-breed- 
ing principles  not  only  to  perpetuate,  but  to  rapidly  increase,  the  seal 
herd. 

To  one  who  has  spent  so  many  years  among  the  seals  as  I  have,  and 
who  has  taken  so  much  interest  in  them,  it  does  appear  to  be  wrong 
that  they  should  be  allowed  to  be  so  ruthlessly  and  indiscriminately 
slaughtered  by  pelagic  hunters,  who  secure  only  about  one-fourth  of  all 
they  kill.  There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  unless  immediate  pro- 
tection be  given  to  the  Alaskan  fur  seal  the  species  will  be  practically 
destroyed  in  a  very  few  years;  and  in  order  to  protect  them  pelagic 
hunting  must  be  absolutely  prohibited. 

The  foregoing  is  substantially  the  same  testimony  that  I  gave  to  the 
commissioners  who  visited  the  islands  in  181)1. 

J.  G.  REDPATH. 


PRIBILOF  ROOKERIES. 

Deposition  of  Charles  J.  Goff,  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  Pribilof  Islands. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Charles  J.  Goff,  of  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes 
and  says:  I  am  45  years  of  age;  during  the  years  1889  and  1890  I  occu- 
pied the  position  of  special  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  the  Pribilof 
Islands.  I  was  located  on  St.  Paul  Island,  only  visiting  St.  George 
Island  occasionally.  About  the  1st  of  June,  1889, 1  arrived  on  St.  Paul 
Island,  and  remained  there  until  October  12,  1889,  when  I  returned  to 
San  Francisco  for  the  winter.  Again  went  to  the  islands  in  1890,  arriv- 
ing there  about  the  last  week  in  May,  and  remaining  until  August  12, 
1890.  Since  that  time  I  have  never  been  on  the  islands.  My  principal 
observations  as  to  seal  life  upon  the  islands  were  confined  to  St.  Paul 
Island,  as  I  only  visited  St.  George  Island  occasionally. 

During  my  first  year  on  the  islands  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company 
was  the  lessee  thereof,  and  during  my  second  year  the  North  American 
Commercial  Company.  In  1889 1  made  careful  observations  of  the  rook- 
eries on  St.  Paul  Island  and  marked  out  the  areas  covered  by  the  breed- 
ing grounds ;  in  1890  I  examined  these  lines  made  by  me  the  former  year 
and  found  a  very  great  shrinkage  in  the  spaces  covered  by  breeding 
seals. 

In  1889  it  was  quite  difficult  for  the  lessees  to  obtain  their  full  quota 
of  100,000  skins.  So  difficult  was  it,  in  fact,  that  in  order  to  turn  off  a 
sufficient  number  of  4  and  5  year  old  males  from  the  hauling  grounds 
for  breeding  purposes  in  the  future  the  lessees  were  compelled  to  take 
about  50,000  skins  of  seals  of  1  or  2  years  of  age.  I  at  once  reportep 
this  fact  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  advised  the  taking  of  a 
less  number  of  skins  the  following  year.  Pursuant  to  such  report  the 
Government  fixed  upon  the  number  to  be  taken  at  60,000,  and  further 
ordered  that  all  killing  of  seals  on  the  islands  should  stop  after  the  20th 
day  of  July.  I  was  further  ordered  that  I  should  notify  the  natives 
upon  the  Aleutian  Islands  that  all  killing  of  seals  while  coming  from  or 
going  to  the  seal  islands  was  prohibited.  These  rules  and  regulations 
went  into  effect  in  1890,  and  pursuant  thereto  I  posted  notices  for  the 
natives  at  various  points  along  the  Aleutian  chain,  and  saw  that  the 
orders  in  relation  to  the  time  of  killing  and  number  allowed  to  be  killed 
were  executed  upon  the  islands.  As  a  result  of  the  enforcement  of  these 


14'J  SEAL    LIFK    ON    THE    I'KIl'.LLoF    ISLANDS. 

regulations  the  lessees  were  unable  to  take  more  than  L'1.L'.">S  seals  of 
the  killable  age  o!'  from  1  to  ."">  years  during  the  season  of  ISiH).  so  great 
had  lieeii  tlie  decrease  of  seal  life  in  one  \ear.  and  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  obtain  <;o.t!0t>  skins  e\  en  if  tiie  time  had  been  unrestricted. 

The  Table  A  appended  to  t  his  affidavit  shows  how  great  had  been  the 
<i»  riea>e  on  St.  Paul  Island  hauling  grounds,  bearing  in  mind  the  fact 
that  the'  driving  and  killing  was  done  by  the  same  persons  as  in  former 
years,  and  was  as  diligently  earned  on.  the  weather  being  as  favorable 
as  in  l»!Mor  seal  driving.  I  belie  vet  hat  the  sole  cause  of  the  decrease  is 
pelagic  sealing,  whieh  from  reliable  information  1  understand  to  have 
increased  greatly  since  1SS1  or  is,s,"i.  Another  fact  1  have  gained  from 
reliable  sources  is  that  the  great  majority  of  seals  taken  in  the  open  sea 
are  pregnant  or  females  in  milk.  It  is  an  unquestionable  fact  that  the 
killing  of  these  females  destroys  the  pups  they  are  carrying  or  nursing. 
The  result  is  that  this  destruction  of  pups  takes  about  equally  from  the 
male  and  iemale  increase  of  the  herd,  and  when  so  many  male  pups  are 
killed  in  this  manner,  besides  the  KM  MM  H)  taken  <>n  the  islands,  it  neces- 
sarily affects  t  he  number  of  killable  seals.  In  ISS'.i  this  drain  upon  male 
seal  life  showed  itself  on  the  islands,  and  this,  in  my  opinion,  accounts 
for  the  necessity  of  the  lessees  taking  so  many  young  seals  that  vear  to 
till  out  t  heir  quota. 

As  soon  as  the  effects  of  the  pelagic  sealing  were  noticed  by  me  upon 
the  islands  I  reported  the  same,  and  the  Government  at  once  took  steps 
to  limit  the  killing  upon  the  islands,  so  that  the  rookeries  might  have 
an  opportunity  to  increase  their  numbers  to  their  former  condition  :  but 
it  will  be  impossible  to  repair  the  depletion  if  pelagic  sealing  continues. 
I  have  no  doubt,  as  i  reported,  that  the  taking  of  100.000  skins  in  1S8J) 
affected  the  male  life  on  the  islands,  and  cut  into  the  reserve  of  male 
seals  necessary  to  preserve  annually  for  breeding  purposes  in  t  he  fut  ure, 
but  this  fact  did  not  become  evident  until  it  was  too  late  to  repair  the 
fault  that  year.  Kxcept  for  the  numbers  destroyed  by  pelagic  sealing 
in  the  years  previous  to  1SS!)  the  hauling  grounds  would  not  have  been 
so  depleted,  and  the  taking  of  100,000  male  seals  would  not  have 
impaired  the  reserve  for  breeding  purposes  or  diminished  to  any  extent 
the  seal  life  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  Kven  in  this  diminished  state  of 
the  rookeries  in  IS.Sil  I  carefully  observed  that  in  the  majority  of  cases 
the  4  and  ,"*  year  old  males  were  allowed  to  drop  out  of  a  "drive" 
before  the  bachelors  had  been  driven  any  distance  from  the1  hauling 
grounds.  These  seals  were  let  go  for  the  sole  purpose  of  supplying 
sufficient  future  breeders. 

.V  few  seals  are  injured  by  redriving  (often  conflicted  with  overdriv- 
ing and  sometimes  so  called).  but  the  number  so  injured  is  inconsiderable 
and  could  have  no  appreciable  effect  upon  seal  life  through  destroying 
the  virility  of  the  male.  The  decrease,  caused  by  pelagic  sealing,  com- 
pelled whatever  injurious  redriving  has  taken  place  on  the  islands,  as 
it  was  often  necessary  to  drive  every  two  or  three  da\  s  from  the  same 
hauling  grounds,  which  caused  many  seals  let  go  in  a  former  "drive" 
to  be  driven  over  aain  before  thorouhl  rested.  If  a  "drive 


depleted  the  rookeries,  there  would  be  no  damage  at  all  resulting  from 
redriving. 

In  my  opinion  pelagic  sealing  is  t  he  cause  of  redriving  on  the  islands, 
the   depletion  of  I  he   rookeries,  and  promises  to  soon  make  the  Alaska 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRII5ILOF    ISLANDS.  143 

fur-seal  herd  a  thing  of  the  past.  If  continued  as  it  is  to  day.  even  if 
killing  on  the  islands  >\as  absolutely  forbidden,  the  herd  will  in  a  few 
years  be  exterminated.  I  am,  therefore,  of  the  opinion  that  pelagic 
sealing  should  be  absolutely  prohibited  both  in  Bering  Sea  and  the 
North  .Pacific  Ocean.  If  this  is  done  and  a  few  years  are  allowed  the 
seal  herd  to  recover  from  the  enormous  slaughter  of  the  past  seven 
years  the  Pribilof  Islands  will  produce  their  100,000  skins  as  heretofore 
for  an  indefinite  period. 

I  hereby  append  to  and  make  a  part  of  this  affidavit  a  table,  marked 
A,1  giving  the  number  of  seals  killed  each  day  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul 
during  the  years  1889  and  1890  up  to  the  20th  day  of  July. 

»  +  *•»*• 

CHARLES  J.  GOFF. 


MANAGEMENT   OF  SEAL  KILLING,   AND   PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Deposition  of  Abial  P.  Loud,  special  assistant  Treasury  agent  on  Pribilof 

Islands. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Abial  P.  Loud, being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  resident 
of  Hampden,  Me.,  and  am  55  years  of  age.  On  April  4,  1885,  I  was 
appointed  special  assistant  Treasury  agent  for  the  seal  islands,  and 
immediately  started  for  the  islands,  arriving  at  the  island  of  St.  Paul 
on  May  28  or  30.  Spent  that  season  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  returned 
for  the  winter  to  the  States,  leaving  the  islands  on  the  18th  of  August. 
Went  back  again  next  spring,  arriving  there  in  latter  pa,rt  of  May,  and 
remained  until  August,  1887,  on  St.  Paul  Island.  Spent  the  season 
of  1888  and  1889  on  St.  George  Island,  returning  in  the  fall  of  1889  to 
the  States.  In  1889  I  spent  some  time  in  the  fall  on  St.  Paul  Island. 
On  whichever  island  I  was  located  I  always  kept  careful  watch  and 
made  frequent  examinations  of  the  rookeries  during  this  entire  period. 
During  the  time  from  1885  to  1889  there  was  a  very  marked  decrease 
in  the  size  of  the  breeding  grounds  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  from  1887 
to  1889  I  also  noticed  a  great  decrease  in  the  areas  covered  by  the 
rookeries  on  St.  George  Island. 

In  his  reports  of  1886  and  1887  George  E.  Tingle,  special  Treasury 
agent  in  charge  of  the  seal  islands,  reported  having  measured  the  rook- 
eries on  the  islands,  and  that  the  seals  had  largely  increased  in  num- 
ber, giving  the  increase  at  about  2,000,000.  From  this  report  I  dissented 
at  the  time,  as  I  was  unable  to  see  any  increase,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a 
perceptible  decrease,  in  the  rookeries.  I  expressed  my  views  to  many 
on  the  islands,  and  all  agreed  that  there  had  been  no  increase  in  seal 
life.  I  do  not  think  that  there  was  a  single  person  on  the  island  except 
Mr.  Tingle  who  thought  there  had  been  an  increase,  or,  in  fact,  that 
there  had  not  been  a  decrease  in  seal  life.  The  measurements  of  the 
rookeries  on  which  Mr.  Tingle  relied  were  made  with  a  common  rope  by 
ignorant  natives  while  the  seals  were  absent  from  the  islands,  the 
grounds  covered  by  them  being  designated  by  Mr.  Tingle  from  memory. 
Even  if  these  measurements  had  been  correct,  which  was  impossible,  I 

1  See  "Island  Records,"  Appendix. 


144  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

do  not  believe  it  is  possible  to  calculate  even  approximately  the  number 
of  seals  upon  the  rookeries  because  of  the  broken  nature  of  the  ground 
and  the  irregular  outlines  of  the  breeding  grounds.  While  I  was  on 
the  islands  I  attended  nearly  every  drive  of  the  bachelor  seals  from  the 
hauling  grounds  to  the  killing  grounds,  and  these  drives  were  conducted 
by  the  natives  with  great  care,  and  no  seals  were  killed  by  overdriving, 
plenty  of  time  being  always  given  them  to  rest  and  cool  off.  A  few 
were  smothered  by  the  seals  climbing  over  each  other  when  wet;  but 
the  number  was  very  inconsiderable,  being  a  fraction  of  1  per  cent  of 
those  driven,  and  did  not  to  any  extent  affect  the  seal  life  on  the  islands. 
The  greatest  care  was  always  taken  to  avoid  overdriving  both  by  the 
Government  officers  and  employees  of  the  lessees. 

During  my  experience  (and  I  was  on  the  killing  ground  at  every  kill- 
ing that  took  place  while  I  was  on  the  islands)  I  never  saw  a  male  seal 
which  had  been  injured  by  b^ing  redriven  several  times  from  the  same 
hauling  ground.  I  am  convinced  that  while  I  was  there  there  was  not 
a  single  case  in  which  the  virility  of  a  male  seal  was  destroyed  or 
impaired  in  the  slightest  degree  by  driving,  redriving,  or  overdriving, 
and  I  took  particular  notice  of  the  condition  of  the  males  during  each 
drive.  The  males  old  enough  for  service  on  the  breeding  grounds  were 
always  allowed  to  return  to  the  hauling  ground  from  a  drive,  and  I  am 
satisfied  a  sufficient  number  of  males  was  always  reserved  for  future 
breeding  purposes.  A  suggestion  was  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  in  the  fall  of  1885  that  some  old  bulls  should  be  killed,  but 
the  Secretary  declined  to  permit  such  animals  to  be  destroyed.  I  am 
convinced  that  the  decrease  in  the  rookeries  was  caused  entirely  by  open- 
sea  sealing.  As  I  was  not  present  on  the  islands  in  the  fall  of  1885,  I 
am  unable  to  make  a  statement  as  to  the  number  of  dead  pups  on  the 
rookeries  in  that  year,  but  in  1886  I  saw  a  large  number  of  dead  pups 
lying  about.  These  pups  were  very  much  emaciated,  and  evidently  had 
been  starved  to  death.  I  account  for  this  by  the  killing  of  the  mothers 
by  open  sea  sealers  before  the  pups  were  weaned,  and  because  a  mother 
will  not  suckle  any  pup  except  her  own. 

In  1887  the  number  of  dead  pups  was  much  larger  than  in  1886.  In 
1888  there  was  a  less  number  than  in  1887  or  in  1889,  owing,  as  I  believe, 
to  a  decrease  of  seals  killed  in  Bering  Sea  that  year,  but  in  1889  the 
increase  again  showed  itself.  I  believe  the  number  of  dead  pups 
increased  in  about  the  same  ratio  as  the  number  of  seals  taken  in  Bering 
Sea  by  pelagic  sealers.  While  I  was  on  the  island  there  were  not  more 
than  three  or  four  raids  on  the  rookeries  to  my  knowledge,  and  I  think 
that  the  destruction  to  seal  life  by  raiding  rookeries  is  a  small  part  of 
1  per  cent  as  compared  with  the  numbers  taken  by  killing  in  the  water. 
Another  fact  in  connection  with  open- sea  sealing  is  that  the  great 
majority  of  seals  killed  are  females,  and  that  a  great  part  of  the  females 
are  pregnant  or  in  milk.  The  milking  females  are  most  all  killed  while 
visiting  the  feeding  grounds,  which  are  distant  40  or  60  miles,  or  even 
farther  from  the  islands.  The  female  necessai  ily  feeds  so  she  can  sup- 
ply nourishment  for  her  young,  while  the  males  during  the  summer 
seldom  leave  the  islands.  This  accounts  for  the  large  number  of  females 
killed  in  Bering  Sea.  In  July,  1887,  I  captured  the  poaching  schooner 
Angel  Dolly  while  she  was  hovering  about  the  islands.  I  examined  the 
seal  skins  she  had  on  board,  and  about  80  per  cent  were  skins  of  females. 
In  1888  or  1889  I  examined  something  like  5,000  skins  at  Unalaska 
which  had  been  taken  from  schooners  engaged  in  pelagic  sealing  in 
Bering  Sea,  and  at  least  80  to  85  per  cent  were  skins  of  females. 

I  have  conversed  with  the  captains  of  several  marauding  schooners 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIB1LOF    ISLANDS.  145 

and  others  who  were  employed  in  pelagic  sealing  have  informed  me  that 
they  usually  use  rifles  in  shooting  seals  in  the  water.  Some,  however, 
use  shotguns,  but  to  no  great  extent.  From  these  conversations  I  should 
judge  they  did  not  secure  more  than  one-half  of  the  seals  killed,  and 
this,  I  think,  is  a  large  estimate  of  the  number  secured.  1  am  of  the 
opinion  that  the  Pribilof  seal  herd  should  be  protected  both  in  Bering 
Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  Ocean.  If  an  imaginary  line  were  drawn 
about  the  islands,  30  or  40  miles  distant  therefrom,  within  which  sealing 
would  be  prohibited,  this  would  be  littie  protection  to  seal  life,  for  all 
the  poachers  whom  I  interviewed  acknowledged  that  they  could  get 
more  seals  in  the  water  near  the  fishing  banks,  30,  40,  or  more  miles  from 
the  islands,  than  in  the  immediate  vicinity  thereof,  and  the  hunters  on 
the  schooners  always  complained  if  they  got  much  nearer  than  40  miles 
of  the  islands.  I  am  certain  that  even  if  sealing  were  prohibited  entirely 
upon  the  islands  the  seal  herd  would  in  a  short  time  be  ex  terminated  by 
pelagic  sealing,  if  permitted,  because  the  females — that  is,  the  pro- 
ducers— are  the  seals  principally  killed  by  open-sea  sealing. 

ABIAL  P.  LOUD. 


PELAGIC  SEALING — MANAGEMENT. 

Deposition  ofKerrick  Artomanoff,  native  chief,  resident  of  8t.  Paul  Island. 

ALASKA,  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

St.  Paul  Island,  Pribilof  Group,  ss  : 

Kerrick  Artomanoff,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a 
native  Aleut  and  reside  on  St.  Paul  Island,  Pribilof  group,  Alaska. 
I  was  born  at  Northeast  Point,  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  am  67  years  of 
age.  I  have  worked  on  the  sealing  grounds  for  the  last  fifty  years  and 
am  well  acquainted  with  the  methods  adopted  by  the  Russian  and 
American  Governments  in  taking  of  fur-seal  skins  and  in  protecting 
and  preserving  the  herds  on  the  island.  In  1870,  when  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company  obtained  a  lease  of  the  islands,  I  was  made  chief,  and 
held  the  position  for  seventeen  years. 

It  was  my  duty  as  chief  to  take  charge  of  and  conduct  the  drives 
with  my  people  from  the  hauling  to  the  killing  grounds.  The  methods 
used  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  and  the  American  Govern- 
ment for  the  care  and  preservation  of  the  seals  were  much  better  than 
those  used  by  the  Russian  Government.  In  old  Russian  times  we  used 
to  drive  seals  from  Northeast  Point  to  the  village,  a  distance  of  nearly 
13  miles,  and  we  used  to  drive  5  or  6  miles  from  other  hauling  grounds; 
but  when  the  Americans  got  the  islands  they  soon  after  shortened  all 
the  drives  to  less  than  3  miles. 

From  1870  to  1884  the  seals  were  swarming  on  the  hauling  grounds 
and  the  rookeries,  and  for  many  years  they  spread  out  more  and  more. 
All  of  a  sudden,  in  1884,  we  noticed  there  were  not  so  many  seals,  and 
they  have  been  decreasing  very  rapidly  ever  since.  My  people  won- 
dered why  this  was  so,  and  no  one  could  tell  why  until  we  learned  that 
hunters  in  schooners  were  shooting  and  destroying  them  in  the  sea. 
Then  we  knew  what  the  trouble  was,  for  we  knew  the  seals  they  killed 
and  destroyed  must  be  cows,  for  mostly  all  the  males  remain  on  or  near 
the  islands  until  they  go  away  in  the  fall  or  fore  part  of  the  winter. 
We  also  noticed  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  that  had  been  starved  to 
death.  These  young  pups  have  increased  from  year  to  year  since  1887, 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 10 


146  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIl-ILoT    ISLANDS. 

and  in  1S1U  the  rookeries  were  covered  with  dead  pups.  In  my  sixty- 
seven  years"  residence  on  the  islands  !  never  before  saw  anything  like 
it.  None  of  our  people  have  ever  known  of  any  sickness  among  the 
pups  or  seals,  and  have  never  M'en  any  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries, 
except  a  lew  killed  by  the  old  bulls  when  lighting,  or  by  drowning 
•when  the  surf  washed  t  hem  off.  1  f  they  had  not  killed  i  he  seals  in  the 
sea  there  would  be  as  many  on  the  rookeries  as  there  was  ten  years  ago. 
There  was  not  one-fourth  as  many  >eals  in  1>!H  as  there  was  in  1SSO. 

Th"  fur  seal  goes  away  from  the  island  in  the  iall  or  winter  and  he 
re  tin  us  in  A I  ay  or  June ;  and  1  believe  he  will  haul  up  ii;  ;  he  same  place 
each  year,  for  I  particularly  noticed  some  that  1  could  tell  that  hauled 
ii}»  in  the  same  place  for  a  number  oi' years:  and  v.  hen  we  make  drives, 
those  we  do  nor  kill,  but  let  go  ;nto  the  water,  are  all  back  when-  we 
took  them  from  in  a  few  hours.  The  pups  me  born  between  the  middle 
of  June  and  the  middle  of  .Inly,  and  can  nut  swim  until  they  are  <i  or 
7  weeks  old:  and  if  burn  in  rhe  water  they  would  die.  1  have  seen  the 
surf  wash  some  of  the  young  pups  into  the  sea.  and  they  drowned  in  a 
very  short  time.  In  four  or  five  days  after  it  is  born  the  m<  ther  seal 
leaves  her  pup  and  goe>  away  in  the  water  to  feed,  and  when  the  pup 
is  -  or  ,'i  weeks  old  the  mother  often  stays  a\\ay  for  live  or  six  days  at  a 
time.  The  mot  her  seals  know  their  own  pups  by  smelling  them,  and  no 
seal  will  allow  any  but  her  own  pap  to  suck  her.  When  the  pups  grow 
to  be  o'  or  8  weeks  old  they  form  in  ••pods"  and  work  down  to  the 
shore,  and  they  Try  the  water  at  the  cd.Lie  until  they  learn  to  swim. 
They  will  remain  on  the  island  until  November,  and.  if  not  too  cold, 
will  stay  till  December.  J  liaveseen  them  Mvimming  around  the  island 
late  in  January.  All  the  seals  when  they  leave  the  islands  go  olf  south, 
but  I  think  they  would  stay  around  here  ail  winter  if  the  weather  was 
not  so  cold. 

\Yhen  they  come  back  to  the  islands  they  come  from  the  south,  and 
1  think  they  come  from  the  North  ljacilic  Ocean  over  the  same  track 
that  they  went.  The  females  go  upon  the  rookeries  as  soon  as  they  arrive 
here,  bin  the  yearlings,  males  and  females,  herd  together.  I  think  they 
stay  in  the  water  most  of  the  time  the  first  year,  but  after  that  they 
come  regularly  to  the  hauling  grounds  and  rookeries,  but  do  not  come 
as  early  in  the  season  as  they  do  after  they  are  -  years  old.  Male  seals 
from  ~  to  (>  years  old  do  not  go  on  the  breeding  rookeries,  but  haul  out 
by  themselves.  The  female  seal  gives  birth  to  but  one  pup  every  year, 
and  >he  has  her  first  pup  when  she  is  .'I  years  old.  The  male  seal  estab- 
lishes himself  on  the  breeding  rookery  in  May  or  June,  when  he  is  7  or  8 
years  old.  and  he  tights  for  his  cows  and  does  not  leave  the  place  he  has 
selected  until  August  or  September.  Our  people  like  the  meat  of  the 
seal,  and  \\  e  eat  no  other  meal  so  long  as  we  can  get  it. 

The  pup  seals  are  our  chicken  meat,  and  we  used  to  be  allowed  to  kill 
,'J.onn  or  4.MOO  male  pups  every  year  in  November:  but  the  ( Jovernment 
agent  forbade  us  to  kill  any  in  IS'.M,  and  said  we  should  not  be  allowed 
to  kill  any  more,  and  he  gave  us  other  meat  in  place  of  pup  meat,  but 
we  do  not  like  any  other  meat  as  \\  ell  as  the  pup- seal  meat.  We  under- 
stand the  danger  there  is  in  the  seals  being  all  killed  off,  and  that  we 
will  ha  ve  no  wa  v  of  earning  our  living.  There  is  not  one  of  us  but  what 
believes  if  they  had  not  killed  them  off  by  shooting  them  in  the  water 
there  would  be  as  many  seals  on  the  island  now  as  there  was  in  1880, 
and  we  could  go  on  forever  taking  100.000  seals  on  the  two  islands, 
lint  if  they  get  less  as  fast  as  they  have  in  the  last  live  or  six  years, 
there,  will  be  none  left  in  a  little  while. 

KEKK  ICK  AKTOMANOFF. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  147 

Deposition  of  Daniel  Webxter. 

ALASKA,  UNITED  STATES. 

St.  Georyc  Itilaml,  Pribilof  Group,  *#." 

Daniel  Webster,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  CM  years 
of  age,  and  am  a  resident  of  Oakland,  Gal.;  my  occupation  is  that  of 
local  agent  for  the  North  American  Commercial  Company,  and  at  pres- 
ent I  am  stationed  on  St.  George  Island,  of  the  Pribilof  group,  Alaska; 
I  have  been  in  Alaskan  waters  every  year  but  two  since  1  was  14  years 
of  age.  1  first  went  to  Bering  Sea  in  1845,  on  a  whaling  voyage,  and 
annually  visited  these  waters  in  that  pursuit  until  1868,  at  which  time 
the  purchase  and  transfer  of  Alaska  was  made  to  the  United  States; 
since  that  time  I  have  been  engaged  in  taking  of  fur  seals  for  their 
skins.  In  1870  I  entered  the  employ  of  the  lessees  of  the  Pribilof 
Islands,  and  have  been  so  engaged  ever  since,  and  for  the  last  thirteen 
years  have  been  the  company's  local  agent  on  St.  George  Island,  and 
during  the  sealing  season  have,  a  part  of  the  time,  gone  to  St.  Paul 
Island  and  took  charge  of  the  killing  at  Northeast  Point,  which  is  known 
to  be  the  largest  fur  seal  rookery  in  the  world.  For  ten  years  prior  to 
1878  I  resided  most  of  the  time  at  Northeast  Point,  having  landed  and 
taken  seals  there  in  1868.  I  have  had  twenty-four  years'  experience  in 
the  fur-seal  industry  as  it  exists  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific  and 
Bering  Sea,  -and  have  made  a  very  careful  study  of  the  habits  and  con- 
ditions of  this  useful  animal.  During  this  period  it  has  been  my  duty 
as  a  trusted  employee  of  the  lessees  to  observe  and  report,  each  year, 
the  condition  of  the  rookeries.  My  instructions  were  explicit  and 
emphatic  to  never  permit,  under  any  circumstances,  any  practices  to 
obtain  that  would  result  in  injury  to  the  herds.  These  instructions 
have  been  faithfully  carried  out  by  myself  and  other  employees  of  the 
lessees  of  the  Islands,  and  the  laws  and  regulations  governing  the  per- 
petuation of  seal  life  have  been  rigidly  enforced  by  all  the  Government 
agents  in  charge  of  the  islands. 

In  my  twenty-three  years' experience  as  a  whaler  in  Bering  Sea  and  the 
North  Pacific,  during  wrhich  time  I  visited  every  part  of  the  coast  surround- 
ing these  waters,  and  my  subsequent  twenty- four  years' experience  on  the 
seal  islands  in  Bering  and  Okhotsk  seas,  I  have  never  known  or  heard 
of  any  place  where  the  Alaskan  fur  seals  breed  except  on  the  Pribilof 
group  in  Bering  Sea.  These  islands  are  isolated  and  seem  to  possess 
the  necessary  climatic  conditions  to  make  them  the  favorite  breeding 
grounds  of  the  Alaskan  fur  seals,  and  it  is  here  they  congregate  during 
the  summer  months  of  each  year  to  bring  forth  and  rear  their  young. 
Leaving  the  islands  late  in  the  fall  or  in  early  winter,  on  account  of  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather,  they  journey  southward  through  the  passes 
of  the  Aleutian  Archipelago  to  the  coast  of  California,  Oregon,  and 
Washington,  and,  gradually  working  their  way  back  to  Bering  Sea, 
they  again  come  up  on  the  rookeries  soon  after  the  ice  disappears  iroiii 
the  shores  of  the  islands;  and  my  observation  leads  me  to  believe  that 
they  select,  as  near  as  possible,  the  places  they  occupied  the  year 
before.  The  young  seals  are  born  on  the  breeding  rookeries  in  June 
and  July.  The  head  constitutes  the  greater  part  of  this  animal  at  this 
time,  and  they  are  clumsy  and  awkward  in  all  their  movements,  and  if 
swept  into  the  water  by  accident  or  otherwise  would  perish  from  inabil- 
ity to  swim — a  fact  that  I  have  often  observed,  and  one  which  is  well 
known  to  all  who  have  paid  any  attention  to  the  subject.  Practically, 
they  remain  in  this  helpless  condition,  though  taking  on  fat  rapidly, 
until  they  are  from  6  to  7  weeks  old,  when  they  commence  to  go  into 


148  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

shallow  water,  and,  after  repeated  trials,  learn  to  swim;  but  even  then 
they  spend  most  of  their  time  on  land  until  they  leave  the  islands  late 
in  November.  During  the  first  few  weeks  after  their  birth  they  are  not 
amphibious,  and  land  is  a  necessity  to  their  existence.  The  mother 
seals  go  out  to  sea  to  feed  soon  after  giving  birth  to  their  young,  and 
return  at  intervals  of  from  a  few  hours  to  several  days  to  suckle  and 
nourish  their  young. 

The  mother  seal  readily  distinguishes  her  own  offspring  from  that  of 
others,  nor  will  she  permit  the  young  of  any  other  seal  to  suckle  her. 
I  have  noticed  in  the  killing  of  young  seals  (pups)  for  food  in  November 
that  their  stomachs  were  full  of  milk,  although,  apparently,  the  mothers 
had  not  been  on  the  islands  for  several  days  previous.  I  have  observed 
that  the  male  seals  taken  in  the  forepart  of  the  season,  or  within  a  few 
days  after  their  arrival  at  the  islands,  are  fat  and  their  stomachs  con- 
tain quantities  of  undigested  fish  (mostly  cod),  while  the  stomachs  of 
these  killed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  season  are  empty;  and  they  dimin- 
ish in  flesh  until  they  leave  the  islands  late  in  the  season. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  while  the  female  often  goes  long  distances  to 
feed  while  giving  nourishment  to  her  young,  the  male  seals  of  2  years 
old  and  over  seldom,  if  ever,  leave  the  islands  for  that  purpose  until  they 
start  on  their  migration  southward.  When  the  seals  are  on  the  breed- 
ing grounds  they  are  not  easily  frightened  unless  they  are  too  nearly 
approached,  and  even  then  they  will  go  but  a  short  distance  if  the  cause 
of  their  fright  becomes  stationary. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  with  any  sort  of  accuracy  the  number  of 
seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  because  of  the  seals  being  constantly  in 
motion,  and  because  the  breeding  grounds  are  so  covered  with  broken 
rocks  of  all  sizes  that  the  density  varies.  I  think  all  estimates  hereto- 
fore made  are  unreliable,  and  in  the  case  of  Elliott  and  others  who  have 
endeavored  to  make  a  census  of  seal  life,  the  numbers  are,  in  my  opinion, 
exaggerated.  Measurements  of  the  breeding  grounds,  however,  show 
an  increase  or  decrease  of  the  number  of  seals,  because  the  harems  are 
always  crowded  together  as  closely  as  the  nature  of  the  ground  and 
temper  of  the  old  bulls  will  permit.  My  observation  has  been  that 
there  was  an  expansion  of  the  rookeries  from  1870  up  to  at  least  1879, 
which  fact  I  attribute  to  the  careful  management  of  the  islands  by  the 
United  States  Government.  In  the  year  1880  I  thought  I  began  to 
notice  a  falling  off  from  the  number  of  seals  on  Northeast  Point  rookery, 
but  this  decrease  was  so  very  slight  that  probably  it  would  not  have 
been  observed  by  one  less  familiar  with  seal  life  and  its  conditions  than 
I;  but  I  could  not  discover  or  learn  that  it  showed  itself  on  any  of  the 
other  rookeries.  In  1884  and  1885  I  noticed  a  decrease,  and  it  became 
so  marked  in  1886  that  everyone  on  the  islands  saw  if.  This  marked 
decrease  in  1886  showed  itself  on  all  the  rookeries  on  both  islands. 

Until  1887  or  1888,  however,  the  decrease  was  not  felt  in  obtaining 
skins,  at  which  time  the  standard  was  lowered  from  6  and  7  pounds  to 
5  and  4£  pounds.  The  hauling  grounds  of  Northeast  Point  kept  up 
the  standard  longer  than  the  other  rookeries,  because,  as  I  believe,  the 
latter  rookeries  had  felt  the  drain  of  open-sea  sealing  during  1885  and 
1886  more  than  Northeast  Point,  the  cows  from  the  other  rookeries 
having  gone  to  the  southward  to  feed,  where  the  majority  of  the  sealing 
schooners  were  engaged  in  taking  seal.  There  was  never  while  I  have 
been  upon  the  island  any  scarcity  of  vigorous  bulls,  there  always  being 
a  sufficient  number  to  fertilize  all  the  cows  coming  to  the  islands.  It 
was  always  borne  in  mind  by  those  on  the  islands  that  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  males  must  be  preserved  for  breeding  purposes,  and  this  accounts 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  149 

partly  for  the  lowering  of  the  standard  weight  ol  skins  in  1888.  The 
season  of  IS!>1  showed  that  male  seals  had  certainly  been  in  suth'cient 
number  the  year  before,  because  the  pups  on  the  rookeries  were  as 
many  as  should  be  for  the  number  of  cows  landing,  the  ratio  being  the 
same  as  in  former  years.  Then,  too,  there  was  a  surplus  of  vigorous 
bulls  in  1S{»1  who  could  obtain  no  cows.  Kvery  care  is  taken  in  driving 
the  seals  from  the  hauling  to  the  killing  grounds,  and  during  the  regu- 
lar killing  season  of  June  and  July  there  are  no  females  driven,  because 
at  this  season  they  are  on  the  breeding  rookeries  and  do  not  intermingle 
with  the  young  males.  If  occasionally  one  does  happen  to  be  in  the 
drive  great  care  is  taken  not  to  injure  her ;  the  law  prohibiting  the  kill- 
ing of  the  female  seal  is  well  understood  by  the  natives,  and  they  are 
thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  it.  Even  were  I  to  request  them  to  kill 
a  female  seal  they  would  refuse  to  do  it,  and  would  immediately  report 
me  to  the  Government  agent.  I  have  known  an  occasional  one  to  be 
killed  by  accident  during  the  food  drives  late  in  the  season,  when  the 
males  and  females  intermingle  on  the  hauling  grounds,  but  the  clubber 
was  always  severely  rebuked  by  the  chief  for  his  carelessness,  as  well 
as  by  the  Government  and  company  officers. 

My  observation  is  that  the  number  of  female  seals  killed  on  the 
islands  from  all  causes  is  too  insignificantly  small  to  be  noticed.  The 
longest  drives  made  on  St.  George  Island  are  from  Starry  Arteel  and 
Great  Eastern  rookeries,  and  they  are  h  ss  than  3  miles  long.  Drives 
from  these  rookeries  require  from  four  to  six  hours,  according  to  the 
weather.  At  Zapadnie  rookery,  on  St.  George,  the  drive  to  the  killing 
grounds  is  less  than  a  mile,  the  seals  are  now  being  killed  there  instead 
of  being  driven  across  the  island  as  they  were  prior  to  1878,  when  it 
took  three  days  to  make  the  journey.  There  is  now  a  salt  house  at 
Zapadnie,  at  which  the  skins  are  salted  as  soon  as  taken.  The  killing 
grounds  on  both  islands  are  all  situated  within  a  very  short  distance 
from  the  shore,  and  seals  not  suitable  to  be  killed,  or  that  are  turned 
out  for  any  cause,  immediately  go  into  the  water,  and,  after  sporting 
around  for  an  hour  or  two,  they  return  to  the  hauling  grounds,  and  to 
all  appearances  they  are  as  unconcerned  and  careless  of  the  presence 
of  man  as  they  were  before  they  were  driven  to  the  killing  grounds. 
I  have  often  observed  that  the  seals  when  on  the  islands  do  not  take 
fright  easily  at  the  presence  of  man;  and  the  natives  go  among  them 
with  impunity.  They  will  go  into  a  herd  of  seals  on  the  hauling 
grounds  and  quietly  separate  them  into  as  many  divisions  and  subdivi- 
sions as  is  necessary  before  driving  them  to  the  killing  grounds.  At 
the  killing  grounds  they  are  again  divided  into  bunches  or  "pods"  of 
20  or  30  each  more  reaolily  than  the  same  number  of  domestic  animals 
could  be  handled  under  the  same  circumstances. 

The  bulls  on  the  rookeries  will  not  only  stand  their  ground  against 
the  approach  of  man,  but  will  become'  the  aggressors  if  disturbed. 
Pups  are  tame  and  very  playful  when  young,  and  previous  to  1891, 
when  it  was  the  practice  to  kill  3,000  or  4,000  for  natives'  food  in 
November,  thousands  of  them  were  picked  up  and  handled  to  determine 
sex,  for  only  the  males  were  allowed  to  be  killed.  Hair  seal  and  seal 
lions  haul  out  on  the  islands  and  are  seldom  disturbed,  yet  they  will 
plunge  into  the  water  at  once  should  they  discover  anyone  upon  their 
rookeries.  But  it  is  not  so  with  the  fur  seal.  They  seem  at  home  on 
the  rookeries  and  hauling  grounds,  and  they  show  a  degree  of  domestica- 
tion seldom  found  among  similar  animals.  At  Northeast  Point  rookery, 
on  St.  Paul  Island,  the  longest  drive  is  2  miles.  In  former  times  the 
Eussians  used  to  drive  from  this  rookery  to  St.  Paul  village,  a  distance 


15<)  SEAL    LIFE    ON     THE    PKIHILOF    ISLANDS. 

of  li'J,  miles.  Seals  turned  away  from  the  killing  grounds  return  to  the 
rookery  from  which  they  were  driven:  therefore  a  male  seal  is  not 
redriven  day  alter  day.  because  a  hauling  ground  is  always  given  sev- 
eral days'  rest  before  being  driven  from  again.  1  never  saw  or  heard  of 
the  generative  organs  of  a  male  seal  being  injured  by  driving  or  by 
redriving.  and  if  such  a  thing  had  taken  place,  even  in  exceptional 
castes,  tin1  natives  would  have  noticed  and  reported  it.  which  they  never 
did.  1  have  seen  a  seal's  flippers  made  sore4  by  driving,  but  1  never 
saw  one  that  was  seriously  injured  by  driving.  1  do  not  believe  that  a 
male  seal's  powers  of  reproduction  were  ever  affected  by  driving  or 
redriving. 

The  bulls  maintain  their  positions  on  the  rookeries  from  the  time 
they  arrive  till  the  cows  come  by  most  bloody  battles,  and  after  the 
cows  commence  arriving  they  are  continually  contending  for  their  pos- 
sessions. During  these  conflicts  they  are  often  seriously  wounded,  and 
their  exertions  are  far  more  violent  than  any  effort  made  by  a  young 
male  during  a  drive.  Then.  too.  the  male  seal  must  have  great  vitality 
to  remain  on  the  rookeries  for  three  months  without  eating  or  drinking 
and  with  little  sleep.  In  spite  of  this  drain  on  his  vital  force  he 
is  able  to  fertilize  all  the  cows  which  he  can  get  possession  of,  and  a 
barren  cow  is  a  rarity.  1  believe  that  a  bull  can  serve  one  hundred  or 
more  cows,  and  it  is  an  absurdity  to  think  that  an  animal  possessing 
such  remarkable  vigor  could  be  made  impotent  bv  being  driven  or 
redriven  when  a  bachelor.  An  impotent  bull  would  have  neither  the 
inclination  or  vigor  to  maintain  himself  on  the  rookeries  against  the 
fierce  and  vigorous  possessors  of  harems.  The  only  bulls  hauling  up 
away  from  the  breeding  rookeries  are  those  whose  extreme  old  age  and 
long  service  have  made  them  impotent  and  useless,  and  i  have  never 
seen  or  heard  tell  of  anything  that  would  make  an  exception  to  this 
rule.  The  methods  employed  in  taking  the  skins  are,  in  my  opinion, 
tin1  best  that  can  be  adopted.  The  killing  grounds  are  situated  as  near 
the  rookeries  and  hauling  grounds  as  is  possible  without  having  the 
breeders  or  bachelors  disturbed  by  the  smell  of  blood  or  putrefaction, 
and  most  stringent  regulations  have  always  been  enforced  to  prevent 
disturbing  or  frightening  the  breeding  seals. 

1  am  convinced  that  if  open-sea  sealing  had  never  been  indulged  in 
to  the  extent  it  has  since  18S.1,  or  perhaps  a  year  or  two  earlier.  100.000 
male  skins  could  have  been  taken  annually  forever  from  the  I'ribilof 
Islands  without  decreasing  the  seal  herd  below  its  normal  si/e  and 
condition.  The  cause  of  the  decrease  which  has  taken  place  can  be 
accounted  for  only  by  open  sea  sealing:  for.  until  that  means  of  destruc- 
tion to  seal  life  grew  to  be  of  such  proportions  as  to  alarm  those  inter- 
ested in  the  seals,  the  seal  herd  increased,  and  since  that  time  the 
decrease  of  the  number  of  seals  has  been  proportionate  to  the  increase 
in  the  number  of  those  engaged  in  open  sea  sealing.  The  majority  of 
seals  killed  in  the  water  are  females,  and  all  the  females  killed  in  Ber- 
ing Sea  are  mothers  who  have  left  their  pups  on  the  rookeries  and  gone 
some  distance  from  the  islands  in  search  of  food.  The  death  of  every 
such  mother  seal  a!  sea  means  the  death  ol  her  pup  on  shore,  because 
it  is  absolutely  and  entirely  dependent  on  her  for  its  daily  sustenance. 
I  never  heard  of  any  disease  among  I  lie  seal  herd,  nor  of  an  epidemic 
of  any  sort  or  at  anv  time  in  the  history  of  the  islands.  I  do  not 
remember  t  he  precise  date  of  the  first  successful  raid  upon  t  he  rookeries 
bv  scaling  schooners,  but  1  do  know  that  for  the  past  ten  years  there 
have  been  many  such  raids  attempted,  and  a  few  of  them  successfully 
carried  out.  and  that  as  the  number  of  schooners  increased  around  the 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  151 

islands,  the  attempted  raids  increased  in  proportion,  and  it  has  been 
deemed  necessary  to  keep  armed  guards  near  the  rookeries  to  repel  such 
attacks.  Although  a  few  of  the  raids  were  successful,  and  a  few  hun- 
dred seals  killed  and  carried  off  from  time  to  time  during  the  past  ten 
years,  the  aggregate  of  all  the  seals  thus  destroyed  is  too  small  to  be 
mentioned  when  considering  the  cause  of  the  sudden  decline  of  seal 
life  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

Twenty-four  years  of  my  life  have  been  devoted  to  the  sealing  indus- 
try in  all  of  its  details  as  it  is  pursued  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and 
it  is  but  natural  that  I  should  become  deeply  interested  in  the  subject 
of  the  seal  lite.  My  experience  has  been  practical  rather  than  theo- 
retical. I  have  seen  the  herds  grow  and  multiply  under  careful  man- 
agement until  their  numbers  were  millions,  as  was  the  case  in  1880. 
From  1884  to  1891 1  saw  their  numbers  decline,  under  the  same  careful 
management,  until  in  the  latter  year  there  was  not  more  than  one-fourth 
of  their  numbers  coming  to  the  islands.  In  my  judgment  there  is  but 
one  cause  for  that  decline  and  the  present  condition  of  the  rookeries, 
and  that  is  the  shotgun  and  the  rifle  of  the  pelagic  hunter,  and  it  is  my 
opinion  that  if  the  lessees  had  not  taken  a  seal  on  the  islands  for  the 
last  ten  years  we  would  still  find  the  breeding  grounds  in  about  the 
same  condition  as  they  are  to-day,  so  destructive  to  seal  life  are  the 
methods  adopted  by  these  hunters.  I  believe  the  number  they  secure 
is  small,  as  compared  with  the  number  they  destroy.  Were  it  males 
only  that  they  killed  the  damage  would  be  temporary,  but  it  is  mostly 
females  that  they  kill  in  the  open  waters,  and  it  is  plain  to  anyone 
familiar  with  this  animal  that  extermination  must  soon  follow  unless 
some  restrictive  measures  are  adopted  without  delay. 

The  foregoing  is  substantially  the  same  statement  that  I  made  to  the 
commissioners  who  visited  the  islands  in  181)1. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


PELAGIC    SEALING   AND   PRIBILOF    ROOKERIES. 

Deposition  of  Washington  C.  Coulson,  United  States  Revenue  Marine,  in 

command  of  the  Rush. 

STATE  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Washington  C.  Coulson,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says: 
I  am  captain  in  the  United  States  Eevenue  Cutter  Service.  At  present 
I  am  in  command  of  the  United  States  revenue  cutter  Rush.  I  was 
attached  to  the  United  States  revenue  cutter  TAncoln,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Capt.  C.  M.  Scammon,  during  the  year  1870,  from  June  until  the 
close  of  the  year  as  a  third  lieutenant,  and  have  been  an  officer  in  the 
revenue  service  ever  since.  In  the  month  of  that  year  that  I  was  in  the 
Bering  Sea  and  at  the  seal  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George.  I  went 
on  shore  at  both  islands  and  observed  the  seals  and  seal  life,  the 
method  of  killing,  etc.  I  noticed  particularly  the  great  number  of  seal, 
which  were  estimated  by  those  competent  to  judge  that  at  least  5,000,000 
and  possibly  0,000,000,  were  in  sight  on  the  different  rookeries.  To  me 
it  seemed  as  though  the  hillside  and  hauling  grounds  were  literally 
alive,  so  great  was  the  number  of  seals.  At  St.  George  Island,  though 
the  seals  were  never  in  as  great  numbers  nor  were  there  so  many  haul- 
ing places,  the  seals  were  very  plentiful.  At  this  time  and  for  several 
year  thereafter  pelagic  sealing  did  not  take  place  to  any  extent  and  the 


152  SKAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIHILOE    ISLANDS. 

animals  were  not  diverted  from  their  usual  paths  of  travel.  All  tire- 
aims  were  forbidden  and  never  have  been  used  on  these  islands  in  the 
killing  and  taking  of  seals.  In  fact,  unusual  noise  even  on  the  ships  at 
anchor  near  these  islands  is  Avoided. 

\  isitiug  t  he  rookeries  is  not  permitted  only  on  certain  conditions,  and 
anything  that  might  frighten  ;  he  seals  avoided.  The  seals  are  never 
killed  in  or  near  the  rookeries,  but  are  driven  a  short  distance  inland, 
to  grounds  especially  set  apart  for  this  work.  I  do  not  see  now  it  is 
possible  t()  conduct  the  sealing  process  with  greater  care  or  judgment. 
I  nder  the  direction  of  Mr.  Uedpath.  on  St.  Paul,  and  .Mr.  Webster,  on 
St.  tieorge  islands — men  who  have  superintended  this  work  lor  many 
years — the  natives  do  the  driving,  and  the  killing  is  performed  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Government  agents.  The  natixes  understand 
just  how  much  fatigue  can  be  endured  by  the  seals,  and  the  kind  of 
weather  suitable  for  driving  and  killing:  no  greater  precaution  in  that 
regard  can  be  taken.  The  evidence  of  this  is  in  the  small  percentage 
of  animals  injured  or  overlie, ited  in  these  drives.  I  do  not  believe  the 
animals  are  much  frightened  or  disturbed  by  the  process  of  selecting 
the  drives  from  the  rookeries,  nor  do  1  think  it  has  a  tendency  to  scare 
the  animals  away  from  the  islands. 

During  the  seasons  of  1S!K)  and  18iU  I  was  in  command  of  the  reve- 
nue cutter  h'uxli  in  P>ering  Sea  and  cruised  extensively  in  those  waters 
around  the  seal  islands  and  the  Aleutian  group.  In  the  season  of  1890 
I  visited  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  (leorge  in  the  months  of  -July, 
August,  and  September,  and  had  ample  and  frequent  opportunities  of 
observing  the  seal  life  as  compared  with  1870.  I  was  astonished  at  the 
reduced  numbers  of  seals  and  the  extent  of  bare  ground  on  the  rook- 
eries in  ls<M)  as  compared  with  that  of  1870.  and  which  in  that  year  was 
alive  with  seal  life.  In  181)0  the  North  American  Commercial  Company 
were  unable  to  kill  seals  of  suitable  sixe  to  make  their  quota  of  00,000 
allowed  by  their  lease,  and.  in  my  opi'iion.  had  they  been  permitted  to 
take  ~»o.OOO  in  181)1,  they  could  not  have  secured  that  number  if  they 
had  killed  every  bachelor  seal  with  a  merchantable  skin  on  both  islands, 
so  great  was  the  diminution  in  the  number  of  animals  found  there. 

1  arrived  with  my  command  at  St.  Paul  Island  June  7,  1S1M  :  at  that 
date  very  few  seals  had  arrived  and  but  a  small  number  had  been  killed 
for  fresh  food.  ( >n  the  1-th  of  June.  1891.  we  were  at  St.<ieorge  Island 
and  found  a  few  seals  had  been  taken  there,  also  for  food,  the  number 
of  seals  arriving  not  bei  g  enough  to  warrant  the  killing  of  any  great 
number.  During  that  year  I  was  at  and  around  both  these  islands 
every  month  from  and  including  June  until  the  1st  day  of  December 
(excepting  October),  and  at  no  time  were  t here  as  many  seals  in  sight  as 
in  ISIID.  I  assert  this  from  actual  observation,  and  it  i>  my  opinion  we 
will  find  less  tin's  year:  and  should  pelagic  sealing  in  the  North  Pacific 
and  llering  Sea  continue,  it  is  only  a  question  of  a  very  lew  years  when 
seal  in  these  seas,  and  especially  at  the  seal  islands,  will  be  a  thing  of 
the  past,  for  they  arc  being  rapidly  destroyed  by  the  killing  of  females 
in  the  open  sea. 

As  to  the  percentage  of  seals  lost  in  pelagic  sealing  where  the  use  of 
firearm-  is  employed.  1  am  not  able  to  state  of  my  own  observation, 
but  from  conversations  with  those  engaged  in  the  business  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  the  number  secured  is  small  compared  with  those  lost  in 
attempts  to  secure  them.  No  mention  was  ever  made  of  any  unusual 
number  of  dead  pup^  upon  the  rookeries  having  been  noticed  at  any 
time  prior  to  my  visit  in  1*70.  but  when  I  again  visited  the  islands  in 
IS'.MI  I  found  it  a  subject  of  much  solicitude  by  those  interested  in  the 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

perpetuation,  and  in  18{)1  it  had  assumed  such  proportions  as  to  cause 
serious  alarm.  The  natives  making  the  drives  first  discovered  this 
trouble,  then  special  agents  took  note,  and  later  on  J  think  almost  e very- 
one  who  was  allowed  to  visit  the  rookeries  could  not  close  their  eyes  or 
nostrils  to  the  great  numbers  of  dead  pups  to  be  seen  on  all  sides. 
In  company  with  Special  Agent  Murray,  Captain  Hooper,  and  Engineer 
Brerton,  of  the  Concin,  I  visited  the  Keef  and  (iarbotch  rookeries,  St. 
Paul  Island,  in  August,  1891,  and  saw  one  of  the  most  pitiable  sights 
that  I  have  ever  witnessed.  Thousands  of  dead  and  dying  pups  were 
scattered  over  the  rookeries,  while  the  shores  were  lined  with  emaciated, 
hungry  little  fellows,  with  their  eyes  turned  toward  the  sea  uttering 
plaintive  cries  for  their  mothers,  which  were  destined  never  to  return. 
]s  umbers  of  them  were  opened,  their  stomachs  examined,  and  the  fact 
revealed  that  starvation  was  the  cause  of  death,  no  organic  disease 
being  apparent. 

The  greatest  number  of  seals  taken  by  hunters  in  1891  was  to  the 
westward  and  northwestward  of  St.  Paul  Island,  and  the  largest  num- 
ber of  dead  pups  were  found  that  year  in  rookeries  situated  on  the 
western  side  of  the  island.  This  fact  alone  goes  a  great  way,  in  my 
opinion,  to  confirm  the  theory  that  the  loss  of  the  mothers  was  the 
cause  of  mortality  among  the  young. 

After  the  mother  seals  have  given  birth  to  their  young  on  the  islands 
they  go  to  the  water  to  feed  and  bathe,  and  I  have  observed  them  not 
only  around  the  islands,  but  from  80  to  100  miles  out  at  sea. 

In  different  years  the  feeding  grounds  or  the  location  where  the  greater 
number  of  seals  are  taken  by  poachers  seem  to  differ;  in  other  words, 
the  seals  frequently  change  feeding  grounds.  For  instance,  in  1887,  the 
greatest  number  of  seals  were  taken  by  poachers  between  Unamak, 
Akutan  Passes,  and  the  seal  islands,  and  to  the  southwestward  and  east- 
ward, in  many  cases  from  50  to  150  miles  distant  from  the  seal  islands., 
In  the  season  of  1890  to  the  southward  and  westward,  also  to  north- 
west and  northeast  of  the  islands,  showing  that  the  seals  had  been  scat- 
tered. The  season  of  1891  the  greatest  number  were  taken  to  northward 
or  westward  of  St.  Paul,  and  at  various  distances,  from  25  to  150  miles 
away. 

On  my  cruise  to  St.  Matthews  and  Unamak  Island  we  did  not  discover 
any  seal  within  25  or  30  miles  of  those  islands,  nor  do  I  know  of  or  believe 
that  the  seals  haul  out  upon  land  in  any  of  the  American  waters  of 
Bering  Sea  except  at  the  Pribilof  Islands.  If  the  seal  life  is  to  be 
preserved  for  commercial  purposes  the  seals  must  be  protected,  not 
only  in  the  Bering  Sea,  but  in  the  waters  along  the  Pacific  Coast  from 
the  Aleutian  Passes  to  the  Columbia  River. 

WASH.  C.  COULSON, 
Captain,  United  States  Revenue  Marine. 


Deposition  of  Thomas  F.  Morgan,  agent  of  lessees  of  Pribilof  and 
Commander  islands. 

STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT, 

New  London  County -,  **: 

Thomas  F.  Morgan,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  the 
person  described  in  and  who  verified  two  certain  affidavits  on  the  5th 
day  of  April,  1892,  before  Sevellon  A.  Brown,  notary  public,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  habits,  management,  etc.,  of  the  fur  seals. 


154  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

The  harems  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  have  at  all  times  varied  very 
much  in  size.  In  the  years  when  I  was  on  the  islands,  between  1874 
and  1887,  it  was  always  possible  to  find  individual  harems  with  50  or 
perhaps  80  females,  while  others  would  only  have  4  or  5  females,  not- 
withstanding the  average  harem  would  perhaps  contain  from  15  to  30 
females.  Large  harems,  though  in  smaller  numbers,  continued  to  exist 
even  in  the  years  1885  and  1887,  when,  as  I  have  already  stated  in  a 
former  affidavit,  the  number  of  females  began  to  decrease. 

While  I  was  on  the  islands  there  was  no  such  thing  known  as  dis- 
turbing breeders  or  stampeding  the  rookeries.  The  herd  is  driven 
from  the  rookery,  is  kept  away  from  filth  as  much  as  possible,  for  the 
reason  that  the  skins  which  are  taken,  if  clean,  take  salt  better,  cure 
in  better  condition,  and  bring  better  prices.  Filth,  grease,  and  oil 
make  skins  come  out  of  kench  flat,  and  such  skins  are  classed  as  low 
when  sold.  Mud  spoils  the  salt  for  quick  work,  so  the  cleaner  the  skins 
are,  the  better.  As  the  rejected  seals  are  only  to  be  got  away  from  the 
killing  ground,  the  quickest  way  to  the  sea  is  the  route  chosen,  and 
they  often  pass  over  decaying  carcasses,  but  not  of  necessity,  as  they 
are  allowed  to  choose  their  own  gait  and  route  to  the  sea.  They  do  not 
seem  to  object  to  this  any  more  than  to  the  filth  caused  by  the  excre- 
ment and  decaying  placentas  on  the  breeding  grounds. 

I  was  on  the  Commander  Islands  in  1891  as  agent  of  the  Russian 
Seal  Skin  Company.  I  never  heard  anyone  state  that  barren  females  (I 
mean  females  without  young)  were  noticed  there,  and  I  don't  believe 
that  any  person  whose  opinion  would  be  entitled  to  consideration  noticed 
this  fact.  It  soon  would  have  become  a  matter  of  common  knowledge 
on  the  islands  if  there  had  been  any  number  of  adult  females  without 
young.  The  only  sure  way  to  determine  whether  an  adult  female  is 
barren  is  to  examine  her  as  to  whether  she  is  giving  milk  or  is  dry.  As 
the  young  seals  do  not  follow  the  mother  continuously,  the  fact  of  seeing 
females  without  pups  with  them  does  not  prove  that  they  have  not  pups 
somewhere  on  the  breeding  grounds,  and  no  person  having  any  knowl- 
edge of  rookery  life  could  draw  such  an  inference,  and  claim  that  the 
females  were  therefore  barren. 

While  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  saw  a  sterile 
female  seal.  It  is  impossible  to  recognize  the  same  seal  from  year  to 
year  unless,  as  in  the  case  of  a  few  old  bulls  which  have  large  scars,  a 
torn  lip,  a  white  blind  eye,  the  nose  split,  or  some  unnatural  mark. 
And,  although  I  have  seen  old  females  without  milk,  very  fat,  associat- 
ing with  the  young  males,  I  could  not  say  that  they  had  not  been  fertil- 
ized, and,  not  having  an  ofrspring  to  care  for,  were  associating  with  the 
males  until  the  season  arrived  for  the  herd  to  leave.  At  one  time  the 
suggestion  was  made  that  it  would  be  a  good  plan  to  kill  these  females. 
I  denied  that  it  was  possible  for  anyone  to  know  that  they  would  not 
bear  young,  and  that  if  the  killing  of  one  female  was  authorized  it 
would  open  the  way  to  do  great  injury  to  the  herd.  For,  when  it 
became  desirable  to  market  a  large  number  of  skins,  the  clubber  would 
see  large  numbers  of  females  unfit  for  breeding. 

It  is  difficult  to  discover  fresh  excrement  on  the  rookeries,  for  the 
seals'  flippers  soon  wipe  out  the  evidence  looked  for.  Still  I  have  often 
seen  it.  In  color  it  is  orange,  light  yellow  to  almost  colorless,  and  in 
consistency  soft,  almost  liquid.  At  times  it  is  very  offensive,  and  at 
others  nearly  odorless.  But  the  soil  of  the  breeding  ground  is  impreg- 
nated with  it,  which  gives  to  the  rookery  a  most  disagreeable  odor  that 
is  increased  by  the  decaying  placentas. 

I  am  quoted  by  the  British  commissioners  (section  825  of  their  report) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  155 

to  show  that  in  1884  an  irregularity  in  the  habits  of  the  seals  took  place 
at  the  Pribilof  Islands.  This  irregularity  consisted  in  the  following :  In 
previous  years  the  seals  that  arrived  in  June  furnished  nearly  all  8-pound 
skins  and  over ;  very  few  of  these  seals  were  let  go  or  rejected,  and  when 
any  were  rejected  it  was  principally  because  they  were  too  large.  But 
this  year  the  2-year-old  seals  commenced  to  laud  much  earlier,  and  the 
run  of  large  half  bulls  arrived  in  more  scattered  bunches,  just  as  if  the 
herd  had  been  turned  back  in  places  and  hurried  ahead  in  others,  thus 
hurrying  the  smaller  seals,  so  that  they  came  on  with  the  head  of  the 
flock,  and  turning  back  some  of  thelarge  seals  which  formerly  had  arrived 
later.  No  irregularity  was  observed  in  the  habits  of  the  female  seals. 

THOMAS  F.  MORGAN. 


Deposition  of  James  G.  8wan,  former  inspector  of  customs,  employee  of 
Indian  Bureau  and  of  Fish  Commission  of  United  States. 

STATE  OF  WASHINGTON, 

Jefferson  County,  ss : 

James  GL  Swan,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  74 
years  old,  a  resident  of  Port  Townsend,  Wash.,  and  by  occupation  a 
lawyer.  I  am  also  United  States  commissioner,  Hawaiian  consul, 
commissioner  for  the  State  of  Oregon,  and  a  notary  public.  I  came  to 
the  Pacific  Coast  in  1850  and  to  Port  Townsend  in  1859,  where  I  have 
since  held  my  residence  the  greater  part  of  the  time  to  the  present 
date.  From  1862  to  1866  I  was  employed  in  the  Indian  Bureau  of  the 
Interior  Department  and  stationed  at  Neah  Bay,  and  again  from  1878 
to  1881  I  was  inspector  of  customs  at  the  same  place.  In  1883  I  also 
visited  there  in  the  employ  of  the  Fish  Commissioner. 

In  1880,  at  the  request  of  the  late  Professor  Baird,  of  the  Smithson- 
ian Institute  at  Washington,  I  made  a  careful  study  of  the  habits  of 
the  fur  seal  (Callorhinus  ur.nnus]  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Flattery 
and  the  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  and  the  result  of  my  observation  is 
embodied  in  the  Tenth  United  States  Census  (report  of  United  States 
Fish  and  Fisheries,  sec.  5,  vol.  2,  p.  293.  Fur  seal  of  Cape  Flattery 
and  Vicinity)  and  in  the  report  of  the  United  States  Fish  Commission. 
(Bulletin  United  States  Fish  Commission,  vol.  3,  pp.  201-207.) 

The  observations  upon  which  these  reports  are  based  were  mostly 
confined  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Cape  Flattery,  and  I  had  at  that 
time  no  opportunity  for  extended  inquiry  as  to  the  pelagic  habits  of 
the  animals.  The  natural  history  of  the  seal  herd  of  the  Pribilof  Islands, 
when  upon  or  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  land,  had  been  minutely, 
and,  I  have  no  doubt,  accurately,  described  by  H.  W.  Elliott  in  his  mono- 
graph published  in  1875.  There  had  been  up  to  that  date  no  series  of 
observations  nor  good  evidence  on  which  to  base  the  hypothesis  that 
the  Pribilof  herd  and  the  large  mass  of  seals  annually  seen  on  the  lati- 
tude of  Cape  Flattery  were  identical.  On  the  contrary,  there  seemed 
then  to  be  many  evidences  that  some  other  rookeries  than  those  of  the 
Pribilof  Islands  were  located  at  some  point  on  the  ( )regon,  Washington, 
or  British  Columbia  coast.  Young  seals  were  occasionally  found  by 
the  Indians  upon  or  near  the  beaches,  and  pregnant  females  were  often 
captured  by  them  so  heavy  with  pup,  and  apparently  so  near  their  full 
term  of  pregnancy,  as  to  warrant  the  belief  that  the  young  must  be 
either  born  in  the  water  upon  bunches  of  kelp  or  upon  the  rocks  and 
beaches  on  or  near  the  coast.  Young  seals  were  often  brought  to  the 


T)*)  SKAL    LIFE    ON    TI1K    PK'IBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Indian  villages,  and  the  testimony  of  both  Indian  and  white  hunters  at 

that  time  pointed  strongly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  breeding  grounds 
of  the  animals  with  which  \ve  were  familiar  could  not  be  far  distant.  I 
have  myself  seen  the  black  pups  in  the  water  when  they  appealed  to  be 
but  a  few  weeks  old.  and  others  have  assured  me  ihat  a  considerable 
number  were  found  from  time  to  lime  swimming  with  their  mothers. 
This  |  the  nome  noi  i  being  of  constant  occurrence  year  after  year,  and  in  the 
absence  of  a  wider  range  of  observations,  we  were  naturally  confirmed 
by  them  in  the  conclusion  to  which  1  have  above  referred. 

In  recent  years  it  has  been  den  ion  si  rated  by  the  large  catches  obtained 
oil  the  coast  by  pelagic  hunters,  and  by  the  testimony  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  people  who.-c  attention  has  been  directed  to  the  matter,  that  the: 
herd  of  seals,  of  which  we  saw  only  a  very  limited  proportion  irom  the 
Xeah  Bay  station,  is  a  very  large  one:  and  it  now  seems  beyond  a  doubt 
that  the  comparatively  few  authentic  cases  in  which  pups  were  seen 
upon  or  in  the  vicinity  of  the  coast  were  anomalous,  tor  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  in  so  large  a  mass  of  pregnant  females  an  occasional 
one  would  be  prematurely  overtaken  by  the  pains  of  the  parturition, 
and  that  the  offspring  brought  forth  under  favorable  conditions,  as 
upon  a  bunch  of  kelp  or  some  rock,  should  survive  at  least  a  few  days 
and  be  brought  in  and  kept  by  the  Indians,  as  1  have  occasionally  seen 
them.  I  have  also  seen  at  the  villages  late  in  the  season,  in  the  hands 
of  the  Indian  boys,  live  pups  which  had  been  recently  removed  from 
their  speared  mothers,  and  whose1  vitality  was  such  that  they  continued 
to  live  for  several  days:  but  it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  young  mam- 
malia may  be  born  several  days,  or  possibly  even  a  month  or  two, 
before  full  term  and  still  survive.  It  is  possible,  too,  that  as  a  source 
of  error  the  hunters  may  have  mistaken  gray  pups  whose  coats  had 
been  darkened  by  wetting,  or  those  a  few  months  old.  born  the  prece- 
ding summer,  for  the  so-called  black  pups. 

At  the  Neah  Bay  station  large  bull  seals  are  seldom  seen,  and  the 
major  part  of  those*  killed  are  pregnant  females,  having  in  them  small 
fetuses  early  in  the  season — say  about  January  or  February — and  later 
full-grown  young.  From  all  the  evidence  I  am  able  to  gather.  1  believe 
the  different  classes  of  seals  remain  apart  when  upon  the  British  Colum- 
bia  coast,  and  old  bulls  and  immature  young  males  being  chiefly  found 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  land,  while  the  pregnant  females 
and  young  males  travel  close  along  the  shore,  and  are  frequently  seen 
in  limited  numbers  in  the  straits  and  iidets. 

In  the  light  of  investigation  and  research  had  since  the  date  of  my 
observations,  the  most  of  which  were  made  more  than  ten  years  ago,  I 
am  satisfied  that  the  mass  of  the  herd  from  which  the  British  Columbia 
or  Victoria  catch  is  obta ined  are  born  neither  in  the  wat  er  nor  upon  the 
land  in  the  vicinity  where  they  are  caught,  and  it  appears  most  probable 
from  the  routes  upon  which  they  are  followed  and  the  location  in  which 
they  are  found  bv  pelagic  hunters  between  March  and  August  that 
they  originate  in.  migrate  from,  and  annually  return  to  Bering  Sea. 

It  has  been  slated  in  print  that  I  said  I  had  seen  pups  born  on  the 
kelp  in  the  water.  '[\\\>  is  a  gross  misrepresentation.  I  merely  said 
that  it  had  been  reported  to  me  that  such  birth  had  been  witnessed, 
and  <|iioted  as  m\  aiithorilv  ('apt.  F.  II.  McAlmond.  of  the  schooner 
(Jlninifiinii  p.  I'd.",.  \(,l.  I.  of  1'iiited  States  Fish  Commission's  report). 

Pelagic  sea  I  i  in:'  was  carried  on  by  the  Indians  at  Neah  Bay  long 
before,  I  first  went  among  them,  hut  they  were  then,  and  until  within  a 
few  years,  provided  only  with  their  canoes,  spears,  and  other  native 
implements  constituting  th«-  necessary  outfit  for  an  aboriginal  seal 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  157 

hunter.  The  destruction  wrought  by  them  upon  the  seal  herd  was, 
compared  with  the  vast  number  of  which  it  was  composed,  very  slight, 
and  did  little  harm  to  anyone,  while  the  result  to  the  Indians  was  then 
and  is  still  of  great  importance.  Now  pelagic  seal  hunting  is  carried 
on  in  quite  a  different  manner.  Numerous  expeditions  are  fitted  out  in 
well-equipped  vessels,  some  of  them  under  both  steam  and  sail,  manned 
by  whites  and  Indians,  and  armed  with  guns  and  spears.  I  am 
informed  and  believe  that  the  herd  has  greatly  decreased  within  the 
last  two  or  three  years,  and  that  if  pelagic  sealing  is  not  soon  checked 
the  herd  will  be  driven  hither  and  thither  and  so  decimated  as  to  render 
it  commercially  valueless.  This  would  be  a  great  wrong  to  the  Indians, 
who  are  dependent  to  a  great  measure  upon  the  seals  for  a  livelihood, 
as  well  as  needless,  wanton  waste,  which  civilized  nations  ought  not  to 
permit.  It  can  not  be  denied  that  the  natives,  who  have  utilized  the 
seal  fisheries  adjacent  to  their  settlements  from  their  earliest  history 
and  profited  by  them,  deserve  some  consideration.  I  believe  that  in 
order  to  preserve  the  rookeries  upon  the  islands  and  build  them  up  to 
their  former  productiveness  it  is  only  necessary  to  restrict  pelagic  seal- 
ing to  the  coast  south  of  54°  40'  and  confine  it  to  the  use  of  the  primi- 
tive methods  formerly  employed  by  the  natives. 

JAMES  G.  SWAN. 


Deposition  of  Joseph  Stanley-Brown,  Treasury  agent. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss : 

Joseph  Stanley-Brown,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  37 
years  of  age;  am  a  citizen  of  the  United  States;  reside  at  Mentor, 
Ohio,  and  am  by  profession  a  geologist. 

I  spent  the  entire  season  of  1891  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  during 
the  summer  of  1892  again  visited  them  and  spent  the  period  between 
June  9  and  August  14  upon  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  in 
continuation  of  my  investigations  concerning  seal  life.  This  season,  in 
addition  to  the  continuous  general  examination  of  all  the  rookeries  and 
the  plottings  of  the  breed  ing- ground  areas  upon  charts,  certain  special 
stations  were  selected  at  points  within  easy  reach  of  the  village  and 
daily  visits  made  thereto.  This  method  of  work  gave  me  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  make  comparisons  between  the  breeding  areas  of  1891 
and  those  of  1892. 

As  the  result  of  my  observations  during  the  past  season,  it  is  my 
opinion  that  there  was  no  increase  among  the  females — the  producing 
class — but  on  the  contrary  that  there  was  a  perceptible  falling  off. 
This  decrease  was  the  more  noticeable  at  points  on  the  rookeries  where 
the  smaller  groups  of  breeding  seals  are  to  be  found. 

There  was  so  little  driving  during  the  season  of  1892  that  an  excellent 
opportunity  was  given  to  observe  life  upon  the  hauling  grounds,  several 
of  which  were  not  disturbed  during  the  entire  season.  There  seemed 
to  be  a  slight  increase  of  the  young  bachelor  seals,  although  this  may 
have  been  more  apparent  than  real  from  the  fact  that  being  unmolested 
they  accumulated  in  large  bands. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  normal  habit  of  the  holluschickie  is  to 
remain  most  of  their  time  upon  shore,  and  if  left  to  themselves  would 
spend  more  time  there  than  in  the  water.  I  have  kept  a  close  daily 
watch  upon  groups  of  yonng  males,  the  members  of  which  did  not  go 
into  the  water  for  a  week  or  ten  days  at  a  time. 


158  SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBlLOF    ISLANDS. 

Any  statement  to  the  effect  that  the  occasional  occurrence  of  large 
harems  indicates  a  decrease  in  the  available  number  of  virile  males,  and 
hence  deterioration  of  the  rookeries,  should  be  received  with  great 
caution  if  not  entirely  ignored.  The  bulls  play  only  a  secondary  part  in 
the  formation  of  harems.  It  is  the  cow  which  takes  the  initiative.  She 
is  in  the  water  beyond  the  reach  or  control  of  the  male  and  can  select 
her  own  point  of  landing.  Her  manner  on  coming  ashore  is  readily 
distinguished  from  that  of  the  young  males  which  continuously  play 
along  the  sea  margin  of  the  breeding  grounds.  She  comes  out  of  the 
water,  carefully  noses  or  smells  the  rocks  here  or  there  like  a  dog,  and 
then  makes  her  way  to  the  bull  of  her  own  selecting.  In  this  incipient 
stage  of  her  career  on  shore  there  is  but  little  interference  on  the  part 
of  the  male,  but  once  well  away  from  the  water  and  near  the  bull  she 
has  chosen,  he  approaches  her,  manifests  his  pleasure,  and  greetings  are 
exchanged.  She  then  joins  the  other  cows  and  as  soon  as  dry  lies  down 
and  goes  comfortably  to  sleep.  I  have  seen  this  selective  power  exer- 
cised repeatedly,  and  the  result  is  that  one  bull  will  be  especially  favored 
while  those  within  15  or  20  feet  will  be  ignored. 

The  size  of  the  harems,  therefore,  has  of  itself  but  little  to  do  with 
the  question  of  lack  of  virile  males,  but  indicates  only  the  selective 
power  of  the  females.  If  100  bulls  represented  the  necessary  supply  of 
virile  males  we  might,  by  reason  of  this  fact,  find  10  bulls  with  very 
large  harems,  10  with  still  less,  50  with  a  reason  able  number,  20  with  a 
few,  and  10  with  none.  An  onlooker  would  not,  therefore,  be  justified 
in  stating  that  by  reason  of  these  few  large  harems  there  is  a  lack  of 
virile  males. 

In  the  very  nature  of  things  it  seems  impossible  that  any  method 
other  than  this  one  of  selection  on  the  part  of  the  female  could  ever 
have  existed. 

Large  harems  are  frequently  due  to  topographic  conditions,  the  con- 
figuration of  the  land  being  such  that  the  females  can  only  reach  the 
breeding  grounds  through  narrow  passageways  between  the  rocks,  and 
around  the  terminations  of  which  they  collect. 

Harems  often  coalesce;  then  boundaries  become  indefinite,  and  when 
their  size  and  position  make  them  too  large  for  control,  cows  pass  to  the 
rear  and  are  appropriated  by  the  bulls  there. 

When  once  the  female  is  located,  the  bull  exercises  rigid  control  and 
permits  no  leaving  of  the  lands  until  she  has  been  served.  I  never  saw 
a  harem  so  large  that  the  vigilance  of  the  bull  in  this  respect  was  ever 
relaxed.  His  consorts  may  escape  to  another  harem,  but  they  are  never 
permitted  to  go  to  sea  until  an  inspection  convinces  the  bull  that  they  are 
entitled  to  do  so.  No  intelligent  observer  would  be  so  bold  as  to  assert 
that  during  the  season  of  1892  there  was  not  an  abundance  of  males  of 
complete  virility,  despite  the  occurrence  of  occasional  large  harems. 
The  accompanying  photographs1  show  that  even  at  the  height  of  the  sea- 
son, and  just  previous  to  the  disintegration  of  the  breeding  grounds, 
there  were  un supplied  with  cows  old  males  which  had  taken  their  stand 
and  from  which  I  was  unable  to  drive  them  with  stones. 

I  should  have  been  extremely  glad  to  have  been  able  to  note  a  great 
many  more  of  these  large  harems,  but  the  work  of  the  pelagic  hunter 
among  the  females  has  been  so  effective  that  the  average  size  of  the 
harems  is  growing  smaller  and  smaller,  while  the  number  of  the  idle 
bulls  is  steadily  increasing.  The  rookeries  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  will 
never  be  destroyed  by  superabundance  of  large  harems. 


1  Not  furnished. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  159 

I  arrived  on  the  islands  this  year  a  few  days  after  the  coming  of  the 
first  cows,  and  by  selecting  a  small  harem  composed  of  seals,  the  arrival 
oi'  which  I  have  seen,  and  giving  it  daily  observation,  I  was  able  to  sat- 
isfy myself  that  females  begin  to  go  into  the  water  from  fourteen  to 
seventeen  days  after  iirst  landing.  On  first  entering  the  sea  they  make 
a  straight  line  for  the  outer  waters,  and  as  lar  as  the  eye  can  follow  them 
they  seem  still  to  be  traveling.  The  first  cows  to  arrive  are  the  first  to 
depart  in  search  of  food,  and  by  the  tirst  week  in  July  the  cows  are 
coming  and  going  with  such  frequency  as  to  be  readily  seen  at  any 
time.  The  accompanying  photograph'  (taken  on  July  8,  1892,  from  the 
same  position  but  one  day  earlier  than  the  one  of  last  year  which  faces 
page  13  of  volume  2,  of  the  case)  shows  pups,  the  mothers  of  which 
are  at  sea. 

The  fact  that  the  coat  of  the  cow  assumes  from  residence  on  the  shore 
a  rusty  or  sunburned  aspect  gives  a  ready  means  ol  observing  her 
movements.  The  rustiness  is  quickly  lost  by  life  in  the  sea. 

The  movements  of  females  can  also  to  a  certain  extent  be  well  observed 
by  their  appearance  after  giving  birth  to  their  pups — after  fasting  and 
after  gorging  themselves  with  food.  After  the  birth  of  the  pup,  and 
after  remaining  upon  the  rookeries  evea  for  a  few  days  when  the  period 
of  coming  from  and  going  into  the  water  has  been  entered  upon,  the 
mother  has  a  very  decidedly  gaunt  appearance,  in  strong  contrast  to 
the  plumpness  of  pregnancy  or  full  feeding.  After  feeding  at  sea  they 
come  ashore  again  well  rounded  up.  So  marked  is  this  that  I  have 
been  repeatedly  misled  by  mothers  in  such  a  condition,  mistaking  them 
for  pregnant  cows,  and  have  discovered  my  error  by  seeing  her  call 
her  pup  and  suclvle  it.  If  I  had  any  doubt  in  my  mind  as  to  cows  feed- 
ing at  sea  it  was  dispelled  by  an  examination  of  three  cows  I  shot  at 
Northeast  Point  on  July  25,  1892.  Two  u  sunburnt"  cows  were  first 
killed,  and  their  stomachs  were  found  to  be  empty.  Another  was  shot 
just  as  she  came  ashore  and  her  stomach  was  gorged  with  half-digested 
codfish,  which  was  identified  by  Mr.  Townsend,  an  expert  of  the  United 
States  Fish  Commission.  A  dissection  was  made  of  this  seal,  and  the 
udder — which  extends,  as  a  broad,  thick  sheet,  thinning  out  toward 
the  edges,  over  the  entire  abdominal  portion  of  the  cow  and  well  up 
to  the  fore  flippers — was  so  charged  with  milk  that  on  removing  the  skin 
the  milk  freely  flowed  out  in  all  directions,  and  previous  to  skinning  it 
was  possible  with  but  little  effort  to  extract  a  sufficient  amount  to  enable 
me  to  determine  its  taste  and  consistency.  A  large  supply  of  food  is 
necessary  to  furnish  such  an  abundant  amount  of  milk.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  a  well- developed  mother  seal  could  yield  between  a  pint  and 
a  quart  of  milk  in  the  first  twenty-four  hours  after  landing  from  a  feed- 
ing expedition,  and  with  such  rich  fountains  to  draw  upon  it  is  no  won- 
der that  the  voracious  pups  increase  during  their  residence  upon  the 
island  not  less  than  four  times  their  weight  at  birth.  And  it  is  equally 
certain  that  without  such  a  constant  supply  of  nourishment  they  could 
not  make  such  a  rapid  growth  as  they  do. 

The  presence  of  excrementitious  matter  upon  the  breeding  rookeries 
is  recognized  both  by  sight  and  smell.  It  is  of  a  yellowish  color,  and 
though  much  of  it  is  excreted,  it  is  of  such  a  liquid  consistency  that  it 
is  quickly  rubbed  into  and  mingled  with  the  soil,  and  thereafter  its 
existence  can  only  be  noticed  through  the  discoloration  of  the  soil  and 
the  offensive  odor.  The  latter  is  readily  detected  at  a  distance  of  miles, 
when  the  wind  is  completely  impregnated  with  it.  The  odor  bears  no 

1  Not  furnished. 


160  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

resemblance  to  that  which  arises  from  the  bodies  of  a  large  number  of 
assembled  animals. 

The  quantity  of  excrementitious  matter  present  is  influenced  by  the 
nature  of  their  diet,  which,  being  fish,  is  largely  assimilated,  while  in 
their  coming  and  going  much  of  it  may  be  deposited  in  the  water,  to 
say  nothing  of  drenching  from  rain,  to  which  the  rookeries  (many  of 
which  are  solid  rock;  are  subjected. 

On  the  hauling  grounds,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
detect  such  matter,  either  through  its  presence,  the  appearance  of  the 
soil,  or  its  odor.  This  is  a  well  known  fact  to  anyone  who  has  even 
casually  inspected  such  hauling  grounds  as  Middle  Hill,  parts  of  Za- 
padnie,  western  end  of  English  Bay,  western  end  of  North  Rookery, 
Starry  Arteel,  Great  East  Eookery,  and  others. 

This  difference  between  the  breeding  grounds  and  the  true  hauling 
grounds  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  former  are  occupied  by  nurs- 
ing females,  which  are  constantly  feeding,  while  the  latter  are  frequented 
chiefly  by  young  males,  which  take  but  little  food  during  the  summer. 
This  abstention  from  food  on  their  part  is  further  indicated  by  the  fact 
that,  with  exceptions  now  and  then  observed  on  the  killing  grounds, 
they  grow  thinner  and  thinner  as  the  season  advances. 

The  pup  at  birth  is  received  by  the  mother  with  an  affectionate  regard 
that  is  unmistakable ;  a  sound  not  unlike  that  made  by  an  ewe,  but  not 
so  loud,  can  be  heard,  and  care  is  exercised  by  the  mother  for  the  pup's 
protection.  I  have  repeatedly  seen  a  mother,  when  her  offspring  was 
still  so  young  as  to  be  helpless,  remove  it  beyond  the  reach  of  the  surf, 
or  gently  lift  it  from  a  hole  between  the  bowlders  into  which  it  had 
fallen.  I  have  seen  them  often  place  the  udder  in  the  most  available 
position  for  the  pup  to  suck,  and  move  themselves  sufficiently  close  for 
it  to  be  within  easy  reach.  After  an  absence  in  the  sea,  the  mother 
invariably  calls  to  her  young  repeatedly,  and  manifests  pleasure  on  find- 
ing it.  Later  on  the  pup  is  able  to  recognize  its  mother,  and  as  the 
female  will  suckle  only  her  own  pup  the  pleasure  and  contentment 
which  the  meeting  gives  both  is  evident  to  the  most  careless  observer. 

Dead  pups  were  as  conspicuous  in  their  infrequency  in  1892  as  by 
their  numerousness  in  1891.  In  no  instance  was  there  to  be  noted  an 
unusual  number  of  dead  pups,  except  on  the  breeding  grounds  of 
Tolstoi,  the  position,  character,  and  size  of  which  gave  prominence  to 
the  carcasses.  Here  the  mortality,  while  in  no  way  approaching  that 
of  the  previous  season,  was  still  beyond  the  normal,  as  indicated  by  the 
deaths  upon  the  other  breeding  grounds. 

Any  surreptitious  killing  of  the  mothers  can  not  be  charged  with  it, 
for  such  killing  either  there  or  anywhere  else  on  the  island  would  have 
become  the  gossip  of  the  village  and  readily  detected  by  the  attempt  to 
dispose  of  the  skins.  There  are  no  hauling  grounds  so  close  to  the 
breeding  areas  that  the  driving  of  the  young  males  could  cause  conster- 
nation among  the  females  during  the  breeding  season.  Stampedes  or 
disturbances  can  not  account  for  it,  for  not  only  are  the  breeding 
grounds  in  this  particular  case  of  Tolstoi  one-fourth  of  a  mile  away 
from  the  hauling  grounds,  namely,  at  Middle  Hill  (the  nearest  point  to 
that  breeding  ground  from  which  seals  were  driven  in  1891  and  1892), 
but  it  would  be  practically  impossible  to  stampede  this  breeding  ground 
by  any  disturbing  cause  save  of  such  magnitude  as  to  be  the  subject  of 
common  knowledge  on  the  islands,  and  I  know  that  no  cause  for  such  a 
commotion  occurred. 

Seals  will  stand  a  large  amount  of  annoyance  before  leaving  their 
harems,  or,  indeed,  being  permitted  to  do  so  by  the  bulls,  and  the  man 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

does  not  live  who  cun  stampede  rookery  bulls.  No  sinokeof  vessels  or 
presence  of  ships  ever  cause  the  stampede  of  an  entire  breeding  ground. 
Such  things  have  been  reported  but  no  one  has  ever  seen  it,  and  it 
would  require  persistent  effort  to  accomplish  such  a  result.  I  have  had 
cause  to  send  natives  on  several  occasions  entirely  across  a  rookery, 
and  no  stampede  ensued.  1  have  thrown  eggshells  filled  with  blue 
paint  at  female  seals,  for  the  purpose  of  marking  them,  until  rocks  and 
seals  were  a  mass  of  blue  color,  but  with  no  disturbing  effect.  In  the 
prosecution  of  my  investigations  1  have  shot  females  with  a  noiseless 
rille  upon  a  small  detached  breeding  ground,  have  crawled  in  and 
dragged  out  the  seals  killed  without  causing  the  other  mothers  to  recede 
more  than  20  feet,  and  in  fifteen  minutes  thereafter  the  breeding  grounds 
presented  their  wonted  appearance. 

After  two  seasons'  observation  I  unhesitatingly  state  that  I  do  not 
believe  there  has  ever  been  breeding  grounds  stampeded  in  such  a  whole- 
sale manner  as  to  cause  the  death  of  pups.  If  such  occurred  in  1891 
and  181)2  it  is  certainly  extraordinary  that  only  the  starvelings  met  death. 

The  true  explanation  of  the  deaths  upon  Tolstoi  this  year  is  not 
readily  found,  and  must  be  sought  in  local  causes  other  than  those  indi- 
cated above,  and  I  am  confident  that  to  none  of  those  causes  can  be  justly 
attributed  the  dead  pups  of  1891  and  1892.  The  following  explanation, 
based  upon  my  acquaintance  with  the  facts,  is  offered  in  a  tentative  way : 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  the  location  and  topographic 
character  of  this  rookery  have  no  counterpart  elsewhere  on  the  island. 
The  rookeries  upon  which  deaths  are  infrequent  are  those  which  are 
narrow  and  upon  the  rear  of  which  are  precipitous  bluffs  that  prevent 
the  wandering  of  pups  backward.  The  larger  part  of  Tolstoi,  as  will 
be  seen  from  the  map,  extends  far  back  and  has  great  lateral  dimen- 
sions. Much  of  it  is  composed  of  drifting  sands  and  it  has  rather  a 
steep  inclination  down  to  the  sea.  The  shore  is  an  open  one,  and  the 
surf,  either  gentle  or  violent,  is  almost  constantly  present.  As  the  time 
for  learning  to  swim  approaches  the  pups  find  it  easy  to  come  down  the 
incline.  They  congregate  in  large  numbers  upon  the  sandy  shore  and 
begin  their  swimming  lessons.  This  is  at  a  period  when  they  are  still 
immature  and  not  very  strong.  The  buffeting  of  the  waves  exhausts 
them  and  coming  ashore  they  either  wander  off,  or  struggling  a  certain 
distance  up  the  incline,  made  more  difficult  of  ascent  by  the  loose  sand 
of  which  it  is  composed,  lie  down  to  rest  and  sleep,  and  are  overlooked 
by  their  mothers  returning  from  the  sea.  I  have  seen  mother  seals  go 
up  the  entire  incline  seeking  their  pups. 

I  find  nothing  in  the  history  of  dead  pups  upon  the  island  this  year 
which  does  not  confirm  my  belief  that  the  great  mortality  of  the  season 
of  1891  was  due  to  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea.  Had  it  not  been  so, 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  deaths  in  1892  should  not  have  been  as 
widely  distributed  as  they  were  the  previous  year. 

1  )uring  the  past  summer  particular  care  was  taken  to  have  the  drives 
conducted  in  the  same  manner  as  in  previous  years,  in  order  that  the 
effect  of  driving  upon  the  young  males  might  be  noted. 

From  June  10  (the  day  after  my  arrival)  to  the  close  of  the  season,  on 
August  9,  there  were  eleven  drives  made,  the  longest  one  being  from 
Middle  Hill,  about  2  miles  from  the  village  killing  ground.  With  two 
exceptions,  no  drives  were  made  from  the  same  hauling  grounds  except 
at  intervals  of  two  weeks.  As  the  killing  this  year  was  limited  to 
7,500,  there  could  be  but  few  seals  taken  each  week,  and  this  necessita- 
ted turning  back  to  the  water,  about  200  yards  distant  from  the  killing 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 11 


162  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

ground,  from  7f>  to  85  per  cent  of  those  driven  up,  and  gave  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  observe  the  effect  of  driving  upon  large  bands  of  seals. 
In  driving  it  is  true  that  if  the  weather  is  unfavorable  a  few  may  die 
en  route,  or  in  anticipation  of  their  death  are  clubbed,  skinned,  and 
their  pelts  added  to  the  quota.  It  is  also  true  that  sometimes  there  are 
manifestations  of  weariness  and  exhaustion  among  the  driven  seals; 
that  driving  causes  some  excitement;  that  occasionally  smothering 
occurs,  and  that  there  are  other  episodes  happening  on  and  about  the 
killing  field  which  are  necessarily  incident  to  and  must  always  form 
part  of  the  killing  of  seals  on  land,  and  which  are  likely  to  obscure  the 
judgment  of  the  observer  or  be  allowed  to  assume  undue  prominence  in 
his  mind.  But  the  chief  question  is  the  potency  of  these  episodes  as 
destructive  agents.  To  what  extent  do  they  occur  and  to  what  extent 
do  they  effect  the  herd  at  large  are  the  points  to  be  fairly  considered ; 
and  their  consideration  must  not  be  influenced  by  an  exaggeration  due 
to  the  sensibilities  of  the  observer.  Care  should  be  and  is  at  all  times 
exercised  to  avoid  needless  waste;  but  after  giving  the  greatest  promi- 
nence possible  to  the  injurious  methods  which  are  alleged  to  have  been 
employed  at  different  times  since  the  American  occupancy  of  the  islands, 
my  observations  lead  me  to  believe  that  the  loss  of  life  from  the  causes 
indicated  above  would  be  but  a  fraction  of  1  per  cent  of  the  seals  driven ; 
and  I  also  believe  that  it  can  not,  with  any  show  of  justice,  be  made  to 
account  for  or  play  other  than  a  very  insignificant  part  in  the  diminution 
of  seal  life.  After  my  observations  of  two  seasons  I  can  not  believe 
that  creatures  which  in  their  maturity  possess  sufficient  vitality  to  live 
for  eighty  or  ninety  days  without  food  or  water,  and  in  which  their  fetal 
life  can  be  cut  from  the  mother  and  still  live  for  days,  are  as  bachelor 
seals  injured  in  their  virility  or  to  any  extent  disabled  physically  by  the 
driving  to  which  they  are  subjected  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

JOSEPH  STANLEY-BROWN. 


DEAD  PUPS. 

Deposition  of  J.  C.  8.  Akerly,  surgeon  United  States  Revenue  Marine,  and 
resident  surgeon  on  St.  Paul  Island. 

STATE  OF  CALIFORNIA, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

J.  C.  S.  Akerly,  Ph.  B.,  M.  D.,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and 
says:  I  am  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  California,  1882,  and  a 
graduate  of  the  Cooper  Medical  College,  1885.  From  June  to  August 
18,  1891,  I  was  surgeon  on  the  revenue-marine  steamer  Corwin.  From 
August  18  to  November  24,  1891,  I  was  resident  physician  on  St.  Paul 
Island,  one  of  the  Pribilof  or  seal  islands.  I  am  at  present  a  practicing 
physician  at  Oakland,  Cal.  During  my  stay  on  the  islands  I  made  fre- 
quent visits  to  the  different  seal  rookeries.  One  thing  which  attracted 
my  attention  was  the  immense  number  of  dead  young  seals;  another 
was  the  presence  of  quite  a  number  of  young  seals  on  all  the  rookeries 
in  an  emaciated  and  apparently  very  weak  condition.  I  was  requested 
by  the  Government  agent  to  examine  some  of  the  carcasses  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  the  cause  or  causes  of  their  death.  I  visited  and 
walked  over  all  the  rookeries.  On  all,  dead  seals  were  to  be  found  in 
immense  numbers.  Their  number  was  more  apparent  on  those  rookeries 
such  as  Tolstoi  and  Halfway  Point,  the  water  sides  of  which  were  on 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  163 

smooth  ground,  and  the  eye  could  glide  over  patches  of  ground  hun- 
dreds of  feet  in  extent  which  were  thickly  strewn  with  carcasses. 

Where  the  water  side  of  the  rookeries,  as  tit  Northeast  Point  and  the 
Reef  (south  of  the  village),  was  on  rocky  ground,  the  immense  num- 
ber of  dead  was  not  so  apparent,  but  a  closer  examination  showed  that 
the  dead  were  there  in  equally  great  number  scattered  among  the  rocks. 
In  some  localities  the  ground  was  so  thickly  strewn  with  the  dead  that 
one  had  to  pick  his  way  carefully  in  order  to  avoid  stepping  on  the  car- 
casses. The  great  mass  of  dead  in  all  cases  was  within  a  short  dis- 
tance of  the  water's  edge.  The  patches  of  dead  would  commence  at 
the  water's  edge  and  stretch  in  a  wide  swath  up  into  the  rookery. 
Amongst  the  immense  masses  of  dead  were  seldom  to  be  found  the  car- 
casses of  full-grown  seals,  but  the  carcasses  were  those  of  pups  or 
young  seals  born  that  year.  I  can  give  no  idea  of  the  exact  number  of 
dead,  but  1  believe  that  they  could  only  be  numbered  by  the  thousands 
on  each  rookery.  Along  the  water's  edge,  and  scattered  amongst  the 
dead,  were  quite  a  number  of  live  pups,  which  were  in  an  emaciated 
condition.  Many  had  hardly  the  strength  to  drag  themselves  out  of 
one's  way,  thus  contrasting  strongly,  both  in  appearance  and  actions, 
with  the  plump  condition  and  active,  aggressive  conduct  of  the  healthy 
appearing  pups. 

The  majority  of  the  pups,  like  all  healthy  nursing  animals,  were  plump 
and  fairly  rolling  in  fat.  1  have  watched  the  female  seals  draw  up  out  of 
the  water,  each  pick  out  its  pup  from  the  hundreds  of  young  seals  sport- 
ing near  the  water's  edge,  and  with  them  scramble  to  a  clear  spot  on  the 
rookery,  and  lying  down  give  them  suck.  Although  1  saw  pups  nurs- 
ing in  a  great  many  cases,  yet  I  never  saw  one  of  the  sickly  looking 
pups  receiving  attention  from  the  female.  They  seemed  to  be  deserted. 

The  cause  of  the  great  mortality  among  the  seal  pups  seemed  to  me  to 
have  ceased  to  act  in  great  part  before  my  first  visits  to  the  rookeries, 
for  subsequent  visits  did  not  show  as  great  an  increase  in  the  masses 
:  of  dead  as  I  would  have  expected  had  the  causes  still  been  in  active 
operation.  It  seemed  to  me  that  there  were  fewer  sickly  looking  pups 
at  each  subsequent  visit.  This  grew  to  be  more  and  more  the  case  as 
the  season  advanced.  When  1  visited  the  rookeries  for  the  purpose  of 
examining  the  dead  bodies  it  was  with  extreme  difficulty  that  carcasses 
could  be  found  fresh  enough  to  permit  of  a  satisfactory  examination. 
I  I  examined  a  large  number  of  carcasses.  All  showed  an  absence  of 
fatty  tissue  between  the  skin  and  muscular  tissue.  The  omen  turn  in 
I  all  cases  was  destitute  of  fat.  These  are  the  positions  where  fat  is 
usually  present  in  all  animals.  Well-nourished  young  animals  always 
have  a  large  amount  of  fat  in  these  localities.  The  few  carcasses  which 
were  found  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation  were  examined  more  thor- 
oughly. The  stomachs  were  found  empty  and  contracted,  but  pre- 
sented no  evidence  of  disease.  The  intestines  were  empty,  save  in  a 
few  cases,  where  small  amounts  of  fecal  matter  were  found  in  the  large 
intestines.  A  careful  examination  of  the  intestines  failed  to  discover 
any  evidence  of  disease.  The  heart,  lungs,  liver,  and  kidneys  were  in 
a  healthy  condition. 

Such  is  the  evidence  on  which  I  have  founded  my  opinion  that  the 
cause  of  the  great  mortality  during  1891  among  the  young  seals  on 
St.  Paul  Island,  Bering  Sea,  was  caused  by  the  deprivation  of  mothers7 
milk.  The  result  of  my  investigation  is  that  there  was  great  mortality 
exclusively  among  nursing  seals.  Second,  the  cause  of  this  mortality 
seemed  to  have  been  abated  pan  passu  with  the  abatement  of  sea  seal- 
ing. Third,  the  presence  of  emaciated,  sickly  looking  pups  which 


164  SI;AL  LIFI;  ON   THE  PKIIULOF  ISLANDS. 

were  apparently  deserted  by  their  inolliers.  Fourth,  the  plump, 
healthy  appearance  of  all  i  he  pups  1  saw  nursing.  Fifth,  the  emaciated 
condition  of  I  lie  dead.  Sixth,  the  absence  of  food  in  the  stomachs 
and  their  contracted  condition.  Seventh,  the  absence  of  digested  food 
in  the  intestines.  Fighth,  the  absence  of  even  fecal  matter,  save  in 
small  amounts  in  a  tew  eases.  Ninth,  the  absence  ot  structural 
changes  in  the  viscera  or  other  parts  of  the  bodies  to  account  for  the 
death. 

.1.  C.  s.  AKKKL\,  Ph.  U..  M.  I). 


CIT^    OF   WASHINGTON. 

/>/.viY/V/  ot  Columbia^  -v.v  : 

Henry  \V.  Flliott,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  1  am  a  resi- 
dent of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  1  was  born;  am  Hi  years  of  aye,  and 
am  a  citi/en  of  the  Tnited  States. 

1  iirst  visited  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  April,  1ST-,  under  the  joint 
appointment  of  the  I'nited  States  Treasury  Department  and  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  and  resided  thereon  until  August,  1S7.">.  In 
I<s71  1  made  another  prolonged  visit  under  the  authority  of  a  special 
act  of  Congress.  1  visited  the  islands  again  brielly  in  IS7<>,  and  during 
May.  June,  .Inly,  and  August,  under  authority  of  a  special  act  of  ( 'on- 
gress,  in  1S1M).  During  each  visit  I  carefully  studied  the  seal  life  on 
these  islands,  and  investigated  the  habits  of  the  fur  seals.  In  these 
years  1  also  visited  the  various  islands  in  and  around  Bering  Sea,  the 
leading  ports  and  inhabited  places  on  the  mainland  and  islands  of 
Alaska  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  as  also  the  ports  of  liritish  Columbia  and 
the  I'nited  States;  witnessed  the  methods  of  pelagic  sealing,  con- 
versed with  many  pelagic  seal  hunters,  shipmasters,  and  fur  traders, 
and  sought  in  all  possible  ways  to  acquaint  myself  fully  with  seal  life 
and  the  taking  of  seals. 


The  Pribilof  Islands  possess  a  peculiar  climate.  There  are  but  two 
seasons,  winter  and  summer;  the  former  begins  with  November  and 
ends  with  April,  the  mean  temperature  being  L'O  to  -<>  F.  above  /ero; 
summer  brings  only  a  slight  elevation  in  the  temperature,  between  1~>° 
or  L'O  ,  so  that  the  mean  temperature  of  that  season  is  40  to  M)°. 
\\  ith  the  opening  of  the  summer,  about  the  1st  of  May,  a  cold,  moist 
fog  settles  down  upon  these  islands,  and  is  ever  present  until  the  hit ter 
part  of  October.  It  is  doubtless  to  this  remarkably  damp  and  sunless 
atmosphere,  together  with  (he  isolation  of  these  islands,  and  the  fact 
that  from  their  formation  they  are  rapidly  drained,  that  the  seals  seek 
these  islands  to  breed:  in  fact,  if  is  necessary  that  such  a  sunless  ami 
inoiM  climate  with  a  low  temperature  should  exist  for  this  species  of 
fur  <ea  1  when  on  la nd.  a  ml  it  becomes  highly  import  an  I  t  hat  t  hey  should 
be  so  protected  as  to  make  their  chosen  home  as  free  from  unnecessary 
molestation  as  possible.  It  is  (jiiilc  certain  that  the  seal  herd  which 
perennially  frequents  the  Pribilof  Islands  has  no  ot  her  terrest  rial  haunt, 
and  now  never  lands,  even  temporarily,  on  any  other  terra  lirma  in  or 
bounding  the  Pacific  Ocean  or  Kering  Sea. 

When  all  the  climatic,  topographical,  and  other  facts  are  considered) 
which  are  so  remarkably  favorable  to  seal  lile  on  the  Pribilof  Islands, 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  165 


d  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  Commander  Islands  of  Russia, 
can  not  be  found  anywhere  else  in  the  Northern  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea, 
the  reasons  are  plain  why  these  islands  have  been  selected  by  the  fur 
seals  for  their  breeding  resorts,  since  reproduction  of  their  kind  can 
not  be  effected  in  the  sea. 

My  personal  observation  and  study  of  seal  life  during  the  past 
twenty  years  have  led  me  to  the  certain  conclusion  that  all  the  herd  of 
fur  seals  (Callorhinus  n  minus)  which  now  make  their  annual  migration 
from  and  back  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  (described  hereafter)  were  all 
born  in  June  and  July  (annually)  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands,  pass  the 
first  four  months  of  their  existence  on  these  islands,  nursing  at  irregu- 
lar intervals,  learning  to  swim,  and  in  shedding  their  fetal  coats  of 
black  hair  for  their  seagoing  jackets  of  hair  and  fur,  leave  in  Novem- 
ber, and  annually  return  there  to  spend  from  four  to  six  months  of  each, 
year.  In  my  published  observations  of  1872  and  1874  I  thought  it 
possible  there  might  be  some  commingling  of  the  Pribilof  seals  with 
the  seal  herd  of  the  Russian  Islands,  but  from  my  subsequent  study  of 
their  migrations  and  of  the  varietal  differences  in  the  herds  in  the  two 
localities,  it  is  now  very  clear  to  me  that  they  never  mingle  on  the 
islands,  each  herd  keeping  to  its  own  side  of  the  ocean  and  annually 
resorting  to  its  own  fixed  breeding  grounds. 

ARRIVAL    OF    THE    HULLS. 

Between  the  1st  and  5th  of  May  a  few  of  the  adult  males  (bulls)  may 
be  found  upon  the  breeding  grounds  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  but  many 
of  them  maybe  seen  swimming  a  short  distance  from  the  shore  for  sev- 
eral days  before  landing.  The  method  of  landing  is  to  come  collectively 
to  these  rookeries  which  they  occupied  the  former  season,  but  whether 
a  bull  always  takes  up  the  same  position  or  strives  to  do  so  I  was  unable 
to  gather  sufficient  data  to  determine,  my  opinion  being  to  the  contrary. 
After  landing,  the  bulls  fight  furiously  for  positions  upon  the  rookeries, 
the  place  of  advantage  being  nearest  the  sea. 

FASTING    OX    THE    ROOKERIES. 

All  the  bulls,  from  the  time  they  have  established  themselves  upon 
the  breeding  grounds,  do  not  leave  them  for  a  single  instant,  night  or 
day,  nor  do  they  until  the  end  of  the  breeding  season,  which  closes 
some  time  between  the  1st  and  10th  of  August  as  a  rule.  The  bulls 
therefore  for  the  space  of  three  or  four  months  abstain  entirely  from 
food  of  any  kind  or  water.  When  they  do  return  to  the  water  they  are 
greatly  emaciated  and  lack  life  and  activity.  But  the  females,  directly 
to  the  contrary,  feed  at  frequent  intervals  during  the  suckling  period, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  season  are  as  sleek  and  fat  as  when  they  first 
hauled  out. 

ARRIVAL   OF    THE    COWS. 

The  cows,  or  females,  begin  to  come  up  from  the  sea  during  the  fore 
part  of  June,  and  after  continual  battles  between  the  rival  bulls  are 
finally  settled  upon  the  rookeries.  All  the  females  of  2  years  of  age  or 
older  uhaul  up"  on  the  breeding  rookeries,  whether  they  are  pregnant 
or  not,  and  during  the  period  from  June  until  the  middle  of  August 
they  may  be  found  coming  and  going  almost  continuously  to  and  from 
the  rookeries,  except  a  few  barren  cows,  which  I  will  mention  here- 
after. The  pregnant  cows  land  upon  the  islands  from  instinctive  knowl- 
edge that  their  period  of  gestation,  which  is  about  twelve  months, 


166  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

lacking  only  a  few  days,  has  come  to  an  end.  As  the  pups  (the  young 
seals;  can  not  be  born  in  the  water,  the  female's  instinct  causes  her  to 
seek  the  land,  upon  which  her  young  is  brought  forth,  sometimes  in  a 
few  hours,  but  usually  in  a  day  or  two,  after  landing. 

AGE   OF   SEALS. 

The  bulls  on  the  rookeries  are  at  least  6  years  of  age,  that  being  about 
the  time  when  they  attain  their  growth,  the  age  of  puberty  being 
probably  about  5  years.  The  remainder  of  the  male  seals,  being  those 
younger  and  less  powerful,  called  "  bachelors,"  1  will  refer  to  later.  The 
cows  probably  reach  their  growth  between  4  and  5  years,  but  give  birth 
to  their  first  pup  when  3,  so  that  cows  2  years  old  are  found  upon  the 
breeding  grounds;  they  are  the  nubiles. 

ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    ROOKERIES. 

As  the  cows  haul  up  on  the  shores  they  are  met  by  the  bulls,  who 
coax  and  urge  them  toward  their  own  position  on  the  rookeries.  Dur- 
ing this  process  the  most  bitter  tights  occurred  between  the  bulls  for 
possession  of  the  cows  in  1872-1874;  those  nearest  the  water  being  the 
most  advantageously  located,  obtained  the  greatest  number  for  their 
harems,  sometimes  having  as  many  as  40  or  50  cows  in  their  possession, 
while  those  farther  inland  could  obtain  sometimes  only  2  or  3:  it  was 
very  difficult  to  fix  the  average  number  of  cows  to  a  harem  in  1872- 
1874,  but  I  estimated  it  at  about  15  or  20. 

PELAGIC   COITION    IMPOSSIBLE. 

lu  the  act  of  coition  on  the  breeding  rookeries  I  have  noticed  the  fact 
that  no  effective  coition  took  place  until  the  cow  was  brought  up  to  or 
laid  against  an  inequality  of  the  rookery  or  fragment  of  the  rock;  that, 
in  spite  of  the  bulk  of  the  male  being  so  great  and  resting  upon  the 
female  as  she  lies  upon  her  belly,  the  orgasms  are  so  rapid  and  violent 
that  she  is  shoved  forward  unless  some  obstruction  holds  her  in  place. 
This  fact  is,  1  believe,  sufficient  to  satisfy  anyone  who  carefully  consid- 
ers the  matter  that  it  is  a  physical  impossibility  for  these  seals  to  copu- 
late in  the  water.  In  my  opinion  there  is  no  conceivable  position  in 
which  effectual  coition  can  take  place  in  the  water.  I  also  observed 
that  the  period  of  connection  in  the  early  part  of  the  season  lasted  from 
eight  to  fourteen  minutes,  and  in  the  latter  part,  when  the  bull  was  not 
as  vigorous,  from  four  to  six  minutes. 

THK    PIPS. 

Immediately  after  birth  the  seal  pup  begins  to  move  about  and  to 
nurse,  which  it  often  does  to  gorging  itself.  It  weighs  but  3  or  4  pounds 
when  born  and  is  only  about  12  inches  long.  The  female  after  bringing 
forth  her  young  goes  frequently  to  and  from  the  water,  to  feed  and 
bathe.  On  returning  from  the  sea  she  will  recognize  the  cry  of  her 
young  though  ten  thousand  pups  are  bleating  at  once,  and  will  imme- 
diately go  to  it.  The  pups  themselves  do  not  recognize  their  own 
mothers— a  fact  I  ascertained  by  careful  observation.  The  mother, 
however,  will  not  permit  any  pup  but  her  own  to  suckle,  and  will  fight 
off  any  which  attempt  it. 

YOUNG    SEALS   LEARNING   TO   SWIM. 

The  pup  when  born  can  not  swim.  If  he  is  thrown  a  rod  or  two  into 
the  water,  his  head,  which  is  heavy,  will  immediately  sink,  and  his  pos- 
terior parts  rise  to  the  surface.  Suffocation  is  only  a  matter  of  a  few 


minutes.     ' 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  167 


inutes.  Until  be  is  almost  six  weeks  old  a  pup  can  not  live  in  the 
water.  lie  then  begins  to  try  the  water,  never  going'  intentionally 
beyond  his  depth :  soon  he  becomes  bolder  and  strikes  out,  using  at  first 
only  his  tlippers;  then  lie  grows  more  and  more  expert,  until  finally  the 
sea' alongshore  is  his  frequent  abiding  place.  The  young  seal,  there- 
fore, up  to  the  time  it  learns  to  swim,  is  a  land  animal — in  no  way  a 
toll-fledged  amphibian;  and  it  requires  four  months  of  suckling  by  its 
mother  on  the  land  before  it  becomes  able  to  shift  for  itself  and  is 
abandoned  by  its  parents. 


DARKEN    FKMALKS. 


Whenever  a  female  ceases  to  breed  or  is  barren  she  hauls  up  with 
the  bachelors,  and  no  longer  goes  on  the  breeding  grounds;  she,  how- 
ever, can  be  easily  distinguished,  and  whenever  one  became  mixed  in 
a  drive  the  natives  pointed  her  out  to  me  in  1872-1874.  The  whole 
number  of  barren  cows  was  then  very  inconsiderable. 


INATTACHED    MALES. 


Behind  the  harems  there  were  always  a  number  of  idle  and  vigorous 
bulls  in  1872-1874,  who  were  unable  to  obtain  any  consorts,  but  they  had 
to  do  severe  battle  to  maintain  their  position  at  all. 


DISORGANIZATION   OF   THE    UOOKKKIB8. 


Between  the  20th  of  July,  when  the  rutting  season  closes,  and  the  5th 
or  8th  of  August,  the  harems  have  changed  from  their  methodical  com- 
pact disposition  on  the  rookeries.  The  old  bulls  begin  to  leave;  the 
pups  are  gathered  into  pods  or  groups.  The  cows,  pups,  and  idle  bulls 
before  mentioned  now  take  possession  of  the  rookeries  in  a  disordered 
manner,  together  with  a  large  contingent  of  the  bachelor  seals,  who  have 
not  thus  far  been  permitted  to  land  on  the  breeding  grounds  by  the  other 
males,  By  the  middle  of  August  three-fourths  of  the  cows  spend  the 
greater  part  of  their  time  in  the  water,  only  coining  on  shore  at  irregular 
intervals  to  nurse  their  young.  The  food  of  the  fur  seals  is  mainly  fish, 
squids  and  crustaceans,  and  mothers,  while  nursing  their  young,  I  am 
satisfied,  go  great  distances  in  Bering  Sea  for  this  food — 50, 100,  and  even 
200  miles  away  from  the  Pribilof  Islands  for  that  subsistence. 

SWIMMING   OF   SEALS. 

I  am  unable  to  state  positively  how  rapidly  a  seal  can  swim,  but  [ 
have  seen  squads  of  young  bachelors  follow  the  revenue  cutter,  Reli- 
ance, upon  which  I  was,  swimming  alongside  and  around  the  vessel  for 
hours,  when  she  was  moving  at  the  rate  of  14  knots  an  hour.  My  opinion 
is  that  the  bachelors  and  those  cows  which,  are  not  heavy  with  pups  can 
travel  through  the  water  from  18  to  20  miles  an  hour  for  many  consecu- 
tive hours  without  pausing  to  rest. 

HOLLUSCHICKIE,    OR   BACHELOR   SEALS. 

The  male  fur  seals  under  the  age  of  6  years  are  not  allowed  to  land 
upon  the  breeding  grounds  by  the  older  and  stronger  males,  and  so  are 
compelled  to  herd  by  themselves.  These  seals  are  called  holluschickie 
or  bachelors,  and  the  places  which  they  occupy  on  land  are  called  haul- 
ing grounds,  in  contradistinction  to  the  breeding  rookeries.  It  is  from 
this  class  of  seals  that  the  killable  seals  are  selected. 


168  SKAL  LIFI:  ox  Tin:  PKIHILOF  ISLANDS. 


llic  hauling"  grounds  are  located  <»n  the  low.  free  beaches  not  occu- 
pied by  the  breeding  grounds,  or  else  inland  behind  the  harems.  In 
the  lat.'er  case,  lanes  are  iel't  between  the  harems  by  the  old  bulls  for 
the  bachelors  to  pass  to  and  from  ihe  sea.  In  ls7l'  I  noticed  one  of 
these  lanes  on  the  I'olavina  rookery  and  the  one  at  Tolstoi  ami  the 
two  at  the  li'eef  rookery,  but  when  1  rt  turned  in  1  s7  i  the  lanes  had 
been  eiit  irely  closed  up.  Hut  the  other  locations  on  unoccupied  beaches 
are  the  most  favored  hauling  grounds,  'fhe  bachelors  when  on  land 
can  be  readily  separated  into  their  several  classes  as  to  age  by  the 
color  of  their  coats  and  sizes. 


Only  the  bachelor  seals  of  from  1*  to  •">  years  of  age  have  been  killed 
by  the  lessees  of  the  islands.  No  female  has  been  or  is  allowed  to  be 
taken:  a  few  have  been  killed  by  accident.  .\  number  of  seals  are 
driven  from  the  hauling  "-rounds  to  the  killing  grounds  after  being 
separated  from  the  resr  by  the  natives.  They  can  be  driven  safely  at 
the  speed  of  half  a  mile  an  hour,  providin.tr  the  weather  is  reasonably 
wet  and  cold.  On  arriving  at  the  killing  grounds  they  are  killed  with 
clubs  and  their  skins  removed.  During  my  visit  to  the  islands,  in  1*00, 
I  was  led  to  the  conclusion  that  some  unnecessary  loss  of  life  had  been 
occasioned  by  excesshe  driving,  and  that  the  methods  of  culling  the 
herd  must  be  abolished:  but  tins  loss,  which  is  bad  enough,  bears  no 
comparison  in  its  injurious  effect  upon  the  herd  to  that  loss  by  reason 
of  indiscriminate  slaughter  which  is  inflicted  upon  the  fur-seal  herd 
unchecked  by  pelagic  hunting.  Of  this  1  will  speak  later.  Besides, 
the  injurious  eitect  of  excessive  driving  can  be  easily  corrected.  It- 
was  stopped  in  I8!K).  and  has  been  still  further  restricted  since  on  the 
islands. 

\V  I.K.HT    AM>    M/.K    Ol      >I.AI  S. 

A  bull  when  full  grown  weighs  between  -400  and  -~><M)  pounds,  some- 
times even  000,  and  measures  from  0  to  7  feet  in  length.  The  female 
weighs  from  70  to  ll'O  pounds,  and  measures  I  to  -U  feet  in  length. 
The  bachelors,  over  1  year  and  up  to  .">  years  old.  weigh  from  ."><)  to  -00 
pounds,  and  are  from  1  to  .">.•,  or  ti  feet  in  length. 


About  the  1st  of  November  the  great  mass  of  the  cows  and  bachelors 
begin  to  depart,  and  the  pups  following  from  the  islands,  going  south- 
ward, the  old  bulls  having  nearly  all  preceded  them  in  September  and 
October.  Some,  however,  remain  as  long  as  the  ice  and  snow  will  per- 
mit, and  when  the  winters  are  mild  and  little  ice  is  about  the  islands, 
which  occasionally  occurs,  fur  seals  are  seen  1  here  mil  il  late  in  January 
in  small  numbers,  a  few  hundreds  at  the  most. 

'I  ill;    MKiKATlMX    nl      I  III       I'|;I  r,l  I.oF    M.A1      )lia;i>. 

To  this,  my  affidavit,  1  append  a  track  chart1  of  the  path  traveled  by 
the  Pribilof  fur-seal  herd  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  from  the  time  it 
leases  the  seal  islands  and  Bering  Sea  in  the  late  autumn  until  it 
rcenters  Bering  Sea  in  June  or  1th  to  Kith  of  .Inly  following.  From 
records  kept  at  I'nalaska  and  I'mnak  for  the  last  eighty  years,  and 
from  other  information,  I  believe  it  to  be  a  fact,  well  settled,  that  the 


1  "  Not  fnniishfd." 


fur  seals  K 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  169 


ils  regularly  pass  out  from  the  waters  of  Boring  Sea  into  the 
North  Pacific  by  the  middle  or  end  of  November  as  a  body;  that  these 
animals  do  not  turn  to  the  eastward  and  up  by  the  peninsular  and 
Kadiak  coast,  but  keep  directly  south  till  lost  to  view. 

From  ship  captains  who  have  sailed  during  the  last  twenty  years 
between  San  Francisco  and  Pn.net  Sound,  i  have  learned  that  while 
making  out  from  San  Francisco  from  the  Sound,  a  long  westerly  reach, 
they  have  seen  large  numbers  of  fur  seals  800  or  more  miles  at  sea  in 
January  or  late  December  moving  toward  the  California  Coast.  Early 
in  January  the  tirst  stragglers  begin  to  appear  off  the  California  Coast 
and  by  the  middle  of  February  the  main  body  of  the  herd  arrives 
Simultaneously  oft"  between  Santa  Barbara  and  Cape  Mendocino.  From 
this  point  the  progress  of  the  herd  northward  is  indicated  on  the  chart 
hereto  attached.1  The  fact  of  this  annual  migration  of  the  Pribilof  fur- 
seal  herd  and  the  route  thereof  is  stated  from  knowledge  derived  from 
my  own  study  in  the  field,  and  from  the  testimony  of  those  traders  and 
mariners  who  responded  to  my  inquiries  at  Unalaska,  Umak,  Sannak, 
Belcovskie,  Kadiak,  Nucliek,  Yakutat,  Sitka,  Fort  Simpson,  Victoria, 
Port  Townsend,  and  Astoria. 

THE    HERD    VISIT   ONLY   THE    PLACE    OF    THEIR    H1RTH. 

From  all  the  facts  that  have  come  to  my  knowledge  in  relation  to  the 
annual  migration  of  the  fur-seal  herd,  and  also  from  information  care- 
fully gathered,  I  am  convinced  and  believe  that  the  Pribilof  herd  of  fur 
seals  now  never  land  upon  any  other  coast  or  islands  save  the  Pribi- 
lof group,  the  land  of  their  birth.  At  no  time  along  the  coast  does  the 
herd  approach  nearer  than  gunshot  of  the  shore,  and  is  often  100  to  200 
miles  distant  therefrom. 

GROWTH    OF    PELAGIC    SEALING. 

When  I  first  visited  Alaskan  waters  in  1865-60,  and  again  in  1872, 
pelagic  sealing  was  almost  unknown,  except  by  Indians  in  canoes  along 
the  North  Pacific  Coast  and  the  catch  was  small,  from  5.000  to  10,000 
annually.  In  1885  it  began  to  assume  larger  proportions,  for  white  men 
then  embarked,  and  in  1886  the  number  of  vessels  engaged  with  white 
crews  in  pelagic  sealing  was  17;  the  number  in  1890  was  42,  and  in  1891, 
86  known  craft;  and  probably  10  or  12  more  clearing  for  "  whaling  and 
trading,"  where,  in  fact,  they  intended  to  seal. 

The  distinctive  effects  of  open-water  killing  on  the  seal  herd  may  be 
better  understood  by  examining  the  manner  in  which  pelagic  sealing  is 
now  carried  on. 

MANNER   OF    PELAGIC    SEALING. 

A  sealing  schooner  is  seldom  over  80  or  under  40  tons  measurement, 
employing  15  or  20  men.  The  vessel  sails  well  into  the  track  of  the 
migrating  herd  of  fur  seals.  Each  boat,  to  the  number  of  7  or  8,  is 
manned  with  two  men,  one  of  whom  rows;  the  other  sits  in  the  bow 
with  his  shotgun  or  rifle  and  gaff- pole.  The  boat  also  contains  a  small 
keg  of  water,  some  provisions,  ammunition  locker,  skinning  knives,  and 
an  extra  pair  of  oars  and  sail.  These  boats  are  let  down  over  the  side 
of  the  vessel,  and  row  out  one  after  the  other  to  the  windward,  taking 
up  positions  just  so  far  from  each  other  as  to  be  in  hail  of  the  one  next 
to  them  toward  the  schooner;  in  this  way  they  can  cover  6,  7,  or  8 
miles,  and  the  furthermost  may  be  out  of  sight  of  the  schooner. 

'"Notfnruished." 


170  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

When  the  boats  have  taken  their  position  the  oarsman  just  keeps  the 
boat's  nose  to  the  wind,  and  the  hunter  keeps  a  lookout  for  seals. 

A  fur  seal,  when  discovered  by  the  hunter  in  the  open  ocean,  is  either 
sleeping  or  feeding,  and  so  the  only  classification  by  these  hunters  is 
"feeders"  or  "  sleepers."  It  is  an  absolute  impossibility  for  the  hunter 
to  determine  the  sex  or  the  age  of  any  fur  seal  when  in  the  water,  until 
it  is  dragged  into  the  boat. 

In  swimming  the  seal  is  always  submerged  several  feet  below  the  sur- 
face. The  seal  also  devours  its  food  beneath  the  water.  It  is,  however, 
compelled  to  come  up  every  three,  five,  or  fifteen  minutes  to  breathe, 
rising  head  and  shoulders  above  the  water  for  a  second  or  two.  If  the 
seal  rises  very  near  the  hunter's  boat  it  will  dive  again  too  quickly  to 
be  shot  at,  but  it  it  raises  30, 50  or  100  yards  from  the  boat,  it  will  pause 
a  moment — long  enough  for  the  hunter  to  shoot  at  it. 

If  the  seal  is  not  hit  or  is  wounded  it  at  once  dives  and  can  never  be 
secured;  if  it  is  killed  by  the  shot  it  sinks,  and  unless  the  boat  is  moved 
up  in  a  minute  or  two  to  the  spot  where  the  animal  sank  the  carcass  will 
be  invisible  from  the  surface.  If,  however,  the  seal  happens  to  be 
wounded  so  as  to  be  stunned  or  dazed,  it  will  flounder  on  the  surface 
of  the  water  until  secured.  Except,  therefore,  in  the  last  peculiar  man- 
ner of  wounding,  the  seal  hunter  never  knows  whether  he  has  missed, 
wounded,  or  killed  the  seal.  Provided,  however,  the  boat  can  be  rowed 
immediately  to  the  spot  where  the  seal  was,  which  depends  on  the  accu- 
racy of  fixing  the  spot — necessarily  a  most  difficult  matter — the  hunter 
may  perceive  the  sinking  body,  if  the  seal  was  killed,  some  4,  6,  or  8 
feet  below  the  surface.  In  that  case  he  reaches  down  with  his  gaff  and 
fastens  on  to  the  carcass  and  drags  it  up  to  the  boat.  Seals  wounded 
either  fatally  or  slightly  are  never  found.  They  instantly  dive  and 
swim  away,  to  perish  sooner  or  later. 

THE    WASTE   OF    LIFE. 

A  hunter  takes,  say,  200  cartridges  when  he  leaves  the  schooner  in 
the  morning,  and  after  perhaps  sixteen  hours'  work  returns  to  the  ves- 
sel with  all  these  expended.  If  for  these  he  can  show  10  or  12  skins  it 
is  considered  a  good  day's  work.  The  pelagic  hunter  certainly  kills  and 
fatally  wounds  a  very  large  number  of  animals  which  he  never  secures 
the  bodies  of,  the  number  hit  and  secured  depending  very  largely  upon 
the  retrieving  skill  of  the  hunter.  From  conversations  I  have  had  with 
pelagic  hunters,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  a  large  majority  of  them  do 
not  get  one  out  of  every  five  that  they  shoot  at  within  and  beyond  a 
range  of  50  yards.  At  30  to  50  yards'  distance  they  are  almost  sure  to 
hit  them  if  they  use  buckshot.  Xo  hunter  who  uses  a  gun  can  tell  the 
exact  number  he  secures,  as  compared  with  the  number  he  kills  or 
fatally  wounds.  He  can  not  possibly  tell  the  truth,  even  if  he  wants 
to  do  so.  He  usually  blazes  away  at  every  seal  that  rises  within  range 
to  a  hundred  yards  or  even  farther. 

The  Indian  hunters  accompanying  a  sealing  schooner  generally  use  a 
toggle-headed  spear,  fastened  to  the  canoe  by  a  line  which  they  use. 
After  a  storm  the  seals  sleep  more  than  at  any  other  time,  and  it  is 
then  the  Indian  hunters  are  let  down  in  their  canoes  and  paddle 
off  to  the  windward,  the  hunter  standing  or  squatting  in  the  bow, 
spear  in  hand,  looking  for  the  protruding  nose  of  a  sleeping  seal. 
When  a  "sleeper"  is  seen,  the  canoe  is  silently  paddled  as  near  the 
animal  as  possible,  the  spear  is  thrown,  and  if  the  seal  is  struck  she 
is  dragged  into  the  canoe  by  the  line.  An  Indian  hunter  secures 
nearly  every  seal  he  strikes ;  but  it  is  also  indiscriminate  slaughter,  as 
he  can  not  distinguish  the  age  or  sex  of  the  "sleeper"  before  striking  it. 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  171 

N  is   i4Ki:i.\(i  SKA  AND  NORTH   I-A(  n  i<    NI  <  K-SARY. 


After  carefully  examining  the  situation,  actual  records,  and  trust- 
worthy testimony  of  men  engaged  in  sealing,  with  whom  I  have  con- 
versed, and  also  from  knowledge  of  the  migratory  habit  and  peculiar 
circumstances  of  seal  lite,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  unchecked  pelagic 
sealing  is  sure,  speedy  destruction  of  the  Pribilof  herd  of  fur  seals; 
that  it'  allowed  to  continue,  and  the  fleet  increases  in  number  of  vessels 
and  increased  skill  of  hunters,  even  though  the  present  modus  vivendi 
should  remain  in  force,  it  would  result  in  the  utter  commercial  ruin  of 
the  herd;  that  in  order  to  preserve  the  seals  from  complete  destruction, 
as  a  commercial  factor,  it  is  necessary  that  pelagic  sealing  should  not 
only  be  prohibited  in  Bering  Sea,  but  also  in  the  North  Pacific,  from 
the  1st  of  May  until  the  end  of  October,  annually.  The  pelagic  hunters 
to-day  kill  at  least  00  per  cent  cows,  the  great  majority  being  with 
young,  nearly  ready  for  delivery,  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

As  the  physical  conditions  are  such  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to 
discriminate  in  matters  of  sex  or  age  when  shooting  or  spearing  in 
th«'  water,  it  is  evident  that  pelagic  sealing  can  not  be  regulated  in  the 
slightest  degree  beyond  its  complete  prohibition  within  certain  limits. 
A  zone  or  belt  of  30  or  even  more  miles  about  the  Pribilof  Islands  will 
be  entirely  ineffective.  No  pelagic  sealing  can  be  permitted  in  Bering 
Sea  with  safety  to  the  preservation  of  the  herd,  and  the  prohibition 
should  extend  into  the  North  Pacific  to  a  period  sufficiently  early  (at 
least  by  the  1st  of  May)  in  the  season  to  protect  in  great  measure  the 
pregnant  female  seals  as  they  pass  along  up  the  coast. 

The  visit  which  I  made  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  1800  satisfied  me 
that  a  very  great  decrease  had  taken  place  in  the  seal  herd  which 
annually  resorts  to  those  islands.  My  observations  in  1872,  1874,  and 
1876  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that,  provided  matters  were  conducted 
in  the  seal  islands  as  they  were  then,  100,000  male  seals  under  5  years 
of  age  might  be  safely  taken  each  year  without  injury  to  the  regular 
birth  rates  or  natural  increase  of  the  herd,  provided  no  abnormal  cause 
of  destruction  occurred.  But  in  1800  1  found  an  entirely  different  condi- 
tion of  affairs  existing.  This  decrease  I  attribute  in  the  greatest  meas- 
ure to  the  pelagic  sealing  above  mentioned.  Its  effect  has  been  so  great 
that  there  is  demanded,  in  my  opinion,  a  cessation  of  all  killing  on  the 
islands,  except  for  the  necessities  of  the  natives  for  a  few  years,  as  well 
as  the  permanent  prohibition  of  pelagic  sealing,  as  already  indicated, 
thus  giving  an  opportunity  for  the  herd  to  reestablish  itself  approxi- 
mately to  its  normal  conditions.  When  the  killing  is  again  permitted 
on  the  islands  for  commercial  purposes  the  regulations  of  the  Treasury 
Department  can  be  rigidly  enforced,  overdriving  can  easily  be  prevented, 
and  the  present  killing  of  pups  by  the  natives  for  food  should  be  pro- 
hibited, at  least  until  the  herd  shall  have  reached  the  form  and  condi- 
tion which  I  found  during  1  87^-1  870. 

With  such  regulations  in  force,  and  with  pelagic  sealing  discontinued, 
it  may  be  confidently  anticipated  that  within  a  few  years  this  species, 
so  valuable  to  the  human  race,  will  be  restored  to  a  condition  which 
will  render  it  valuable  once  again  to  the  commerce  of  the  civilized 
world;  and  this  restoration  will  prove  enduring. 

HENRY  W.  ELLIOTT. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  this  l.'ith  day  of  April,  1802. 

[L-  s-]  SEVELLON  A.  BROWN. 


172  SLAL     LIFK    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS. 

CMTKD  STATKS  COAST  AND  CRODF/HC  SIKVKY. 

^Iciintcr  M<-.[ rtlitir.  December  9.  1^9.2. 
Hon.  JOHN    \V.    FOSTKK, 

Nrr/'f  iiii'Uuf  Stutt  .    ]\'((s)l  hit/toil.    />.    ('. 

SIR:  I  have 1  lie  honor  to  for\\  ard  the  a  i'idax  it  desired,  and  will  forward 
the  duplicate  1  o-morrow. 

\\~e  anchored  otf  Sechat  village  at  .'>..'>0  p.  in.  April  L'O.  Our  native 
chief  came  alongside  and  was  requested  to  come  on  board  in  the  morn- 
ing and  bring  wit  li  him  some  of  tin1  chief  men  of  t  he  village,  lie  had 
planned  to  go  hunting  wild  geese,  which  were  living  at  the  time:  so  I 
promised  him  s->  or  >s-~>  for  his  loss  of  time  and  to  accompany  us  to  other 
villages.  \Ye  took  their  testimony  in  the  morning  of  the  L'lst.  and  ran 
to  another  village.  anchoring  at  10.45  a.  in.,  took  testimony  and  left  at 
l.L'O.  Anchored  oiV  I'cliielet  at  1*.  10  and  left  at  i.-!.\  Anchored  off 
Taylor  Island  at  7.'_'0  p.  m.  and  lei't  for  Port  Townsend  at  10  p.  in. 

Two  to  three  dollars  were  given  to  each  head  chief  and  one  dollar 
eacli  to  the  others  for  their  loss  of  time  and  witness  tee  after  testimony 
was  given.  All  that  was  requested  of  them  was  to  answer  the  questions 
truthfully.  The  white  storekeeper  was  on  hoard  but  a  few  minutes,  and 
was  invited  to  take  a  glass  of  beer  or  liquor.  The  priest  dined  on  board, 
and.  I  believe,  took  a  drink  and  some  claret  wine.  \Ve  were1  not  long 
enough  in  any  one  place  to  intoxicate  anyone  if  we  had  been  foolish 
enough  to  do  so.  1  sincerely  believe  they  would  give  the  same 
testimony  to  an  Knglish  party  at  any  time. 

There  were  four  commissioned  officers  of  the  Navy  present  during  the 
testimony,  and   as  many  of  the  witnesses  could  speak  and  understand 
Knglish.  all  were  satisfied  of  their  truthfulness. 
Very  respect  full y. 

W.   T.  KAY. 
Lieutenant,   r/d/rd  States  \<iri/,  ('<>iii»/((i«liit<j. 


STATK  01-   CALIFORNIA: 

\\  .  P.  Rav,  bein^;  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  an  oflicer  in 
the  Tinted  States  Navy,  holding  the  <»TJide  of  lieutenant.  Tnder 
instructions  from  Washington  I  went  from  Port  Townsend  to  Barclay 
Sound,  on  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver  Island.  April  11).  1SOU,  in  the 
steamer  M<-A  I't/ttT.  of  the  Cnited  States  Coast  Survey.  I  returned  to 
Port  Townsend  three  days  later.  The  object  of  my  visit  to  Barclay 
Sound  was  to  procure  information  in  the  form  of  affidavits  as  to  the 
habits  of  the  fur  seals,  to  be  used  in  the  pending  arbitration  with  (ireat 
Britain.  1  visited  the  various  points  in  that  vicinity  inhabited  by  the 
Indians,  and  took  the  testimony, of  a  number  of  these  people  and  of 
the  priest,  of  the  village.  For  greater  convenience  I  took  the  testimony 
aboard  the  steamer,  and  I  agreed  to  pay,  and  did  pay,  each  witness  a 
reasonable  sum  for  attendance,  which  sum  did  not  exceed  the  usual  fee 
allowed  a  witness  in  a  court  of  justice.  The  total  amount  disbursed 
by  me  in  obtaining  the  testimony  of  these  witnesses  was  s."»f>,  which 
amount  was  distributed  amoii.u'  1~»  men.  It  was  made  up  partly  of  the 
amount  paid  to  each  individual  witness  on  account  of  his  attendance 
on  board  mv  vessel,  partlv  of  sums  paid  out  to  men  who  undertook  to 
ascertain  the  whereabouts  of  certain  of  the  witnesses  and  secure  their 
attendance  as  above.  Kach  witness  received  a  plu#  of  tobacco.  No 
other  gratuity  of  any  sort  was  dispensed. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  173 


At  no  time  during  my  slay  at  Barclay  Sound  was  any  intoxicating 
liquor  dispensed  to  any  native  witness,  nor  was  any  witness  under  the 
influence  of  liquor  at  the  time  when  I  took  his  testimony.  We  were 
not  more  than  two  and  a  halt'  hours  at  any  one  village. 

The  testimony  which  1  obtained  was  given  in  every  instance  willingly 
and  cheerfully.  Neither  the  witness  fees  nor  the  gratuities  above  men- 
tioned formed  any  part  of  the  consideration  for  the  giving  of  this  testi- 
mony, and  1  firmly  believe  the  same  statements  will  be  made  to  anyone 
visiting  the  place  for  information  at  any  time. 

Just  before  leaving,  Chief  Charlie,  chief  of  police,  stated  that  he  and 
his  people  had  given  food,  clothing,  shelter,  and  protection  to  many  ship- 
wrecked Americans,  and  he  requested  blue  cloth  enough  to  make  a  uni- 
form suit,  as  he  could  not  procure  any  there.  It  was  given  to  him  as  a 
slight  acknowledgment  of  his  kindness  to  our  people  in  distress. 
Value,  $10. 

W.  P.  BAY, 

Licntenttnl,  United  States  Navy, 
Commanding  Coast  Survey  Steamer  Me  Arthur. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  December,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  A.  S.  MACDONALD. 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  Alameda  County,  State  of  California. 


Deposition  of  C.  L.  Hooper. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Personally  appeared  before  me  C.  L.  Hooper^  who,  being  duly  sworn, 
deposes  and  says:  I  am  50  years  of  age;  a  resident  of  Oakland,  Cal., 
and  am  an  officer  in  the  United  States  Ke venue-Marine  Service,  holding 
the  grade  of  captain,  and  commanding  the  United  States  revenue- 
steamer  Cor  win. 

In  obedience  to  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  I 
cruised  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  from  March  9  to  May  16,  1892,  for 
the  purpose  of  investigating  the  habits  of  the  fur  seal  when  at  sea. 
During  these  investigations  I  had  occasion  to  take  the  depositions  of  a 
number  of  natives  and  white  men  familiar  with  the  subject. 

During  a  portion  of  September,  all  of  October,  and  a  portion  of 
November  these  investigations  were  continued  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Aleutian  Archipelago,  and  a  number  of  depositions  were  taken  also 
from  the  natives  of  the  Aleut  villages  situated  thereon. 

No  depositions  were  taken  by  me  from  the  natives  of  Vancouver 
Island,  nor  from  the  natives  from  any  other  localities  except  as  pre- 
viously indicated. 

In  no  instance  was  liquor  in  any  form  given  by  me,  or  by  anyone  on 
my  vessel,  to  any  affiant;  no  affiant  was  under  the  influence  of  liquor 
when  his  statement  was  made;  no  undue  influence  of  any  sort  or 
description  was  used;  no  gratuities  were  given;  only  such  witness  fees 
were  paid  as  would  be  a  fair  compensation  for  loss  of  time  when  such 
loss  of  time  actually  occurred,  and  the  testimony  obtained  was  given 
freely  and  willingly. 

Two  hundred  and  eighty  depositions  were  taken,  and  the  aggregate 
fees  paid  was  $69.50. 

C.  L.  HOOPER. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  December,  1892. 
[SEAL.]  SEVELLON  A.  BROWN. 


174  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIB1LOF    ISLANDS. 

Deposition  of  William  H.  Williams. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss  : 

Personally  appeared  before  me  William  H.  Williams,  who  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at  Wellington,  Ohio;  I  am  56  years 
of  age,  and  am  United  States  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  the  Pribilof 
Islands. 

I  have  seen  several  newspaper  articles  in  which  I  am  charged  with 
having  "suborned  Indian  testimony,"  with  employing  "unfair  means" 
in  obtaining  evidence  from  Indians,  and  that  conclusive  proof  of  this 
misconduct  has  been  procured  by  Major  Sherwood  of  the  Dominion 
police. 

The  facts  in  connection  with  the  procuring  of  these  depositions  are 
as  follows:  During  the  summer  of  1892  I  had  occasion,  in  accordance 
with  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  take  the  depo- 
sitions of  certain  natives  concerning  the  subjects  of  seal  life  and  sealing 
at  sea.  The  Indians  from  whom  1  took  depositions  were  the  Makah 
Indians  at  the  Makah  Agency,  two  Nitnat  Indians  at  the  same  place, 
and  the  natives  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  No  depositions  were  taken  by 
me  from  any  other  natives,  and  I  was  never  at  Barclay  Sound,  on  the 
west  of  Vancouver  Island,  or  on  the  west  coast  of  British  Columbia, 
In  taking  depositions  from  the  Makah  Indians  the  only  sum  of  money 
paid  was  $2.50,  which  was  given  by  me  to  Chestoqua  Peterson,  son  of 
the  chief,  for  his  services  as  interpreter  for  two  and  one- half  days.  On 
the  Pribilof  Islands  the  sum  of  $5  was  paid  to  Simeon  Melivedof,  a 
native  and  school  teacher  on  the  island,  for  four  days'  services  as  a 
copyist.  These  were  the  only  sums  of  money  paid  by  me  to  Indians  or 
to  natives,  or  to  anyone  in  Alaska. 

In  no  instance  was  any  liquor  given  to  an  affiant  by  me,  nor  by  any 
one  either  directly  or  indirectly  associated  with  me;  nor  was  any  affiant 
under  the  influence  of  liquor  when  his  deposition  was  made  or  verified; 
and  no  undue  influence  of  any  sort  or  description  was  employed.  No 
gratuities  in  any  form  were  given.  The  testimony  obtained  was  not 
only  freely  and  willingly  given,  in  all  instances,  but  often  voluntarily. 
This  was  especially  true  of  the  two  Xitnat  Indians. 

In  the  case  of  the  natives  at  the  Makah  Agency,  the  depositions  were 
taken  in  the  office  of  the  Indian  agent,  Glynu,  and  under  his  personal 
knowledge.  He  is  a  radical  in  his  opposition  to  the  giving  of  intoxi- 
cants to  natives,  and  had  anyone  attempted  to  ofler  one  of  the  Indians 
liquor  he  would  have  been  at  once  ejected  from  the  agency. 

WM.  H.  WILLIAMS. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  20th  day  of  December,  1892. 
[SEAL.]  CHAS.  S.  HUGHES,  Notary  Public. 


Additional  deposition  of  William  H.  Williams. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Personally  appeared  before  me  William  H.  Williams,  who,  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at  Wellington,  Ohio;  am  56  years  of 
age,  and  am  United  States  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  the  Pribilof 
Islands. 

During  the  summer  of  1892  I  had  occasion,  in  accordance  with  instruc- 
tions from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  take  the  depositions  of  cer- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  175 

tain  white  men  concerning  the  subject  of  sealing  at  sea.  The  depositions 
were  taken  in  Victoria  IVom  ship  captains,  seamen,  boat  pullers  and 
steerers,  seal  hunters,  and  others  interested  in  sealing,  among  them  the 
vice-president  of  the  Sealers'  Association.  All  depositions  were  taken 
and  verified  before  the  United  States  consul,  Myers,  at  Victoria.  This 
was  the  only  place  in  which  I  took  depositions  in  British  Columbia.  In 
no  instance  was  any  liquor  given  by  me  to  an  affiant;  nor  was  any  affiant 
under  the  influence  of  liquor  when  his  deposition  was  made  or  verified; 
and  no  undue  influence  of  any  sort  or  description  was  employed.  Xo 
gratuities  were  given.  The  testimony  obtained  was,  in  all  instances, 
not  only  given  freely  and  willingly,  but  often  voluntarily.  The  usual 
witness  fees  (in  this  case  ranging  from  -SI  to  $3)  were  paid,  and  only  in 
three  instances  was  the  latter  sum  given,  the  usual  price  being  $2. 

WM.  H.  WILLIAMS. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2()th  day  of  December,  1892. 
[SEAL.]  CHAS.  S.  HUGHES,  Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  Joseph  Murray. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA, 

City  of  W&xKington,  ss  : 

Personally  appeared  before  me  Joseph  Murray,  who,  being  duly  sworn, 
deposes  and  says:  1  reside  at  Fort  Collins,  Colo.;  I  am  50  years  of  age, 
and  am  the  first  assistant  Treasury  agent  at  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

In  obedience  to  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  I 
accompanied  the  Fish  Commission  steamer  Albatross  on  the  cruise  made 
by  that  vessel  during  the  month  of  April,  1892,  and  took  depositions 
from  the  natives  of  Cooks  Inlet  and  Prince  William  Sound.  I  also  took 
depositions  in  Kodiak,  Victoria,  Port  Towusend,  and  Seattle  from  white 
men.  In  no  instance  was  any  liquor  given  to  an  affiant;  nor  was  any 
affiant  under  the  influence  of  liquor  when  his  statement  was  made  or 
verified ;  and  no  undue  influence  of  any  sort  or  description  was  employed. 
Xo  compensation  whatsoever  was  given  by  the  Government  to  any 
native  or  other  person  for  any  purpose,  and  the  testimony  obtained  was 
in  all  instances  given  freely  and  willingly. 

JOSEPH  MURRAY. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  21st  day  of  December,  1892. 
[SEAL.]  JOSEPH  A.  KINSLEY,  Notary  Public. 


DESTRUCTION   OF  FEMALE   SEALS. 

Testimony  of  American  furrier*. 

Relative  to  matter  of  depletion  of  seal  herds  of  the  Pribilof  Islands, 
this  most  deplorable  fact  is  due  in  our  opinion  in  great  part,  if  not 
entirely,  to  the  action  of  sealers  in  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  these 
animals  while  in  transit  to  and  from  these  islands  for  breeding  purposes, 
the  females  being  killed  in  much  greater  proportionate  numbers,  owing 
to  their  less  aggressive  nature  and  their  being  less  able  to  escape. 
While  on  their  way  to  these  islands  the  cow  (female)  seal  is  in  a  condi- 
tion of  pregnancy,  the  period  of  gestation  ending  shortly  after  their 
landing.  If  intercepted  and  killed  while  in  this  condition  the  loss  is 
obvious.  (G.  G.  Gunther's  Sons.) 


176  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

At  that  time  (1805)  he  made  his  purchases  from  the  Indians  on  the 
western  coast  of  the  American  continent,  who  offered  to  him  only  the 
skins  of  female  seals;  that  the  price  he  originally  paid  for  them  was  as 
low  as  50  cents  per  skin;  that  he  offered  the  Indians  a  much  higher 
price  for  male  skins,  and  was  told  by  them  that  the  male  seals  could 
not  be  caught,  and  that  many  Indians  whom  he  has  personally  seen 
kill  seals,  and  from  whom  he  has  bought  skins,  have  told  him  that  male 
seals  and  the  young  cows  were  too  active  to  be  caught,  and  that  it  was 
only  the  female  seals  heavy  with  young  which  they  could  catch.  The 
males,  for  instance,  as  deponent  was  told  by  the  seal  hunters,  come  up 
to  the  surface  of  the  water  after  diving  often  as  much  as  a  mile  from 
the  place  they  went  down,  whereas  the  females  can,  when  pregnant, 
hardly  dive  at  all. 

Deponent  says  that,  from  his  own  observation  of  live  seals  during 
many  years,  and  from  his  personal  inspection  of  the  skins,  he  knows 
the  difference  between  the  skin  of  a  female  seal  and  a  male  seal  to  be 
very  marked,  and  that  the  two  are  easily  distinguishable.  The  skin  of 
a  female  shows  the  marks  of  the  breasts,  about  which  there  is  no  fur. 
The  belly  of  the  female  seal  is  barren  of  fur  also,  whereas  on  a  male  the 
fur  is  thick  and  evenly  distributed.  The  female  seal  has  a  much  nar- 
rower head  than  the  male  seal,  and  this  difference  is  apparent  in  the 
skins;  also  that  the  differences  between  the  male  and  female  seals7  skins 
are  marked;  that  there  is  now  and  always  has  been  a  difference  in  the 
price  of  the  two  from  300  to  500  per  cent.  For  example,  at  the  last  sales 
in  London,  on  the  22d  day  of  February,  1892,  there  were  sold  30,000 
female  skins  at  a  price  of  40  shillings  apiece,  and  13,000  male  seals  at  a 
price  of  130  shillings  apiece,  on  an  average. 

Second.  That  from  the  year  1864  down  to  the  present  day  deponent 
or  his  firm  have  been  large  purchasers  of  seal  skins  on  the  western 
coast  of  America  from  the  Indians  and  residents  on  the  British  coast; 
and  deponent  believes  that  he  has  handled  nearly  three-fourths  of  the 
catch  from  that  time  down  to  the  present.  That  during  the  whole  of 
this  period  he  has  purchased  from  30,000  to  40,000  seal  skins  a  year,  and 
that  he  has  personally  inspected  and  physically  handled  the  most  of  the 
skins  so  bought  by  him  or  his  firm. 

That  from  the  year  1880  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  buying  skins 
from  American  and  English  vessels,  engaged  in  what  is  now  known  as 
poaching,  and  that  he  has  personally  inspected  every  cargo  bought,  and 
seen  unloaded  from  the  poaching  vessels,  and  subsequently  seen  and 
superintended  the  unpacking  of  the  same  in  his  own  warehouse;  that 
the  most  of  the  skins  mentioned  as  purchased  by  him  have  been  bought 
from  the  poaching  vessels,  and  that  of  the  skins  so  bought  from  the 
vessels  known  as  poachers  deponent  says  that  at  least  90  per  cent  of 
the  total  number  of  skins  were  those  of  female  seals,  and  that  the  skins 
of  male  seals  found  among  those  cargoes  were  the  skins  of  very  small 
animals,  not  exceeding  2  years  of  age;  and,  further,  that  the  age  of  the 
seal  may  be  told  accurately  from  the  size  of  its  skin. 

Third.  That  the  skins  bought  at  Victoria  from  the  poaching  vessels 
are  shipped  by  him  largely  to  the  firm  of  0.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  in  Lon- 
don, who  are  the  largest  sellers  of  skins  in  the  world,  and  the  agents 
of  deponent's  firm;  that  he  has  been  through  the  establishment  of 
O.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  in  London,  very  frequently;  that  he  has  fre- 
quently heard  stated  by  the  superintendent  thereof  that  the  great  major- 
ity of  the  skins  received  by  them  from  what  is  called  the  u  North  west 
catch" — that  is,  the  northwest  coast  of  Victoria — are  the  skins  of  seals 
caught  by  vessels  in  the  open  Pacific  or  the  Bering  Sea,  and  that  a 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  177 

large  proportion  of  said  skins,  amounting  to  at  least  JM)  per  cent,  were 
iii  his,  the  said  superintendent's,  judgment  obviously  the  skins  of  female 
seals. 

Fourth.  That  deponent  has  frequently  requested  the  captains  of  the 
poaching  vessels  sailing  from  Victoria  and  other  ports  to  obtain  the 
skins  of  male  seals,  and  stated  that  he  would  give  twice  as  much 
money,  or  even  more,  for  such  skins  than  he  would  pay  for  the  skins 
of  females.  Kaeh  and  all  of  the  captains  so  approached  laughed  at 
the  idea  of  catching  male  seals  in  the  open  sea,  and  said  that  it  was 
impossible  lor  them  to  do  it.  and  that  they  could  not  catch  male  seals 
unless  they  could  get  upon  the  islands,  which,  except  once  in  a  long- 
while,  they  were  unable  to  do,  in  consequence  of  the  restrictions  imposed 
by  the  United  States  Government;  because,  they  said,  the  males  were 
more  active,  and  could  outswim  any  boat  which  their  several  vessels  had, 
and  that  it  was  only  the  female  seals  who  were  heavy  with  young  which 
could  be  caught.  Among  the  captains  of  vessels  with  whom  deponent 
has  talked,  and  who  have  stated  to  him  that  they  were  unable  to  catch 
anything  but  females,  are  the  following:  Captain  Cathcart,  an  Ameri- 
can, now  about  75  years  of  age,  who  commanded  the  schooner  San 
Dieyo,  and  who  subsequently  commanded  other  vessels;  Capt.  Harry 
Harmson,  Capt.  George  W.  Littlejohn,  Capt.  A.  Carlson,  Gustav  Sund- 
vall,  and  others,  whose  names  he  does  not  now  remember.  (Herman 
Liebes.) 

I  find  in  handling  the  skins  taken  in  Bering  Sea  that  the  teats  of 
those  from  the  cow  seals  are  much  larger  and  much  more  developed 
than  from  the  ones  taken  in  the  North  Pacific  before  they  have  given 
birth  to  their  young;  and  the  fur  on  the  belly  of  the  former  is  thinner 
and  poorer  than  on  the  latter,  as  a  result,  I  suppose,  of  the  heat  and 
distentioii  of  the  udder  consequent  upon  giving  milk.  (Isaac  Liebes.) 

In  my  examination  of  skins  offered  for  sale  by  sealing  schooners  I 
found  that  over  90  per  cent  were  skins  taken  from  females.  The  sides 
of  the  female  skins  are  swollen,  and  are  wider  on  the  belly  than  those 
of  the  males.  The  teats  are  very  discernible  on  the  females,  and  it 
can  be  plainly  seen  where  the  young  have  been  suckling.  The  head  of 
the  females  is  also  much  narrower.  (Sidney  Liebes.) 

I  have  read  the  affidavit  of  John  J.  Fhelan,  verified  the  18th  day  of 
June,  18i)2.  I  was  present  at  the  examination  of  seal  skins  therein 
referred  to.  While  Phelan  inspected  all  of  these  seal  skins,  I  assisted 
him  in  the  inspection  of  about  three-fourths  of  them.  I  know  that  of 
those  inspected  jointly  none  were  improperly  classed  as  the  skins  of 
female  animals.  (Chas.  E.  McClennen.) 

I  was  visiting  in  San  Francisco  in  the  winter  of  1890-91,  and  I  worked 
in  a  fur  store  during  several  months  of  my  stay  there,  and  I  was  called 
on  to  handle  and  inspect  thousands  of  the  skins  taken  by  schooners  in 
Bering  Sea,  and  they  were  nearly  all  cow  seal  skins.  (Anton  Melovedoff.) 

In  buying  the  catch  of  schooners  engaged  in  the  sealing  business  I 
have  observed  that  fully  50  per  cent  of  them  were  females,  and  had 
either  given  birth  to  their  young  or  were  heavy  in  pup  when  killed, 
which  \\as  easily  observed  by  the  width  of  the  skin  of  the  belly  and  the 
small  head  and  development  of  the  teat.  (E.  H.  Sterufels.) 

The  first  consignment  was  placed  in  cold  storage  at  the  Central  Stores 
in  New  York  City.     A  short  time  since  I  consented,  at  the  request  of 
the  United  States  Government,  that  this  consignment  be  examined,  in 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 12 


178  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

order  to  determine  how  many  female  skins  it  contained.  To  perform 
the  examination  I  detailed  John  J.  Phelan.  This  man  has  been  in  the 
employ  of  rny  father  or  of  myself  since  the  year  1808.  I  regard  him 
as  one  of  the  most  competent, trustworthy  men  in  our  service.  I  have 
read  an  affidavit  verified  by  him  on  the  18th  of  June.  1  agree  entirely 
with  what  he  says  concerning  his  experience  in  the  handling  and  dress- 
ing of  skins,  and  from  what  I  know  of  his  character  and  ability  I 
believe  that  everything  stated  by  him  in  this  affidavit  is  correct.  (Geo. 
H.  Treadwell.) 

It  is  true  that  the  Northwest  Coast  catches  have  of  late  years  placed 
upon  the  market  a  certain  number  of  good  skins  which  could  be  pur- 
chased at  prices  far  below  those  for  which  the  skins  of  the  Alaska 
catch  were  sold.  But  1  realize  that  this  can  not  continue  to  be  the 
case,  for  it  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  among  furriers  that 
these  Northwest  Coast  catches  are  composed  mainly  of  the  skins  of 
female  animals,  and  1  understand  that  the  killing  of  the  seals  is  rapidly 
impairing  the  value  of  the  herd.  (Samuel  Ullinann.) 

I  have  for  many  years  personally  examined  numerous  shipments  of 
Northwest  Coast  skins  purchased  at  Victoria.  J  have  had  such  expe- 
rience in  handling  fur-seal. skins  as  enables  me,  readily  in  most  cases, 
but  always  upon  careful  examination,  to  distinguish  a  female  skin  from 
a  male  skin,  and  I  know  it  to  be  a  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  skins  in  such  shipments  are  those  taken  from  female  animals.  It  is 
also  true  that  a  large  number  of  skins  in  many  of  these  shipments  are 
rendered  almost  valueless  through  the  numerous  bullet  holes  which  they 
contain.  (Samuel  Ullmann.) 

I  have  observed  that  by  far  the  larger  portion  of  skins  purchased  by 
me  were  taken  from  female  seals.  Not  less  than  eight  out  of  every  ten 
were  from  cows  with  pup  or  in  milk.  (C.  T.  Wagner.) 

During  the  past  two  years  I  have  handled  large  numbers  of  North- 
west Coast  skins  (i.  e.,  skins  of  animals  taken  in  the  Pacih'c  Ocean  or 
in  Bering  Sea).  I  have  assorted  all  of  them,  and  in  doing  so  have 
specially  noticed  the  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion  were  skins  of 
female  animals.  To  determine  this  fact  in  the  case  of  dressed  skins  I 
see  whether  there  are  any  teat  holes.  I  never  call  a  skin  a  female  skin 
unless  I  can  find  two  such  holes  on  either  side.  These  holes  can  be 
easily  distinguished  from  bullet  or  buckshot  holes,  of  which  there  are 
generally  a  great  number  in  Northwest  Coast  skins.  In  the  case  of  a 
shot  hole  it  is  always  evident  that  the  surrounding  fur  has  been  abruptly 
cut  off,  while  around  the  edge  of  a  teat  hole  the  fur  gradually  shortens 
as  it  reaches  the  edge  and  naturally  ceases  to  grow  at  the  edge.  I  have 
just  looked  over  an  original  case  of  90  dressed  and  dyed  Northwest 
Coast  fur-seal  skins,  which  have  been  lately  received  from  London,  and 
were  still  under  seal  placed  on  them  in  London.  I  found  that  of  these 
90  skins  9  only  were  those  of  male  animals.  (Win.  Wiepert.) 

Deponent  further  says  that  the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  are 
almost  entirely  the  skins  of  females;  that  the  skins  of  males  and  the 
skins  of  females  may  be  as  readily  distinguished  from  each  other  as 
the  skins  of  the  different  sexes  of  any  other  animals  when  seen  before 
being  dyed  and  dressed,  and  that  the  reason  why  the  skins  of  this 
catch  are  almost  exclusively  females  is  that  the  male  seal  is  much  more 
active  and  much  more  able  to  escape  from  the  boats  engaged  in  this 
manner  of  hunting  than  the  female  seal,  and  that  a  large  number  of 
the  female  seals  included  in  the  Northwest  catch  are  of  animals  heavy 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    I'lilHILOF    ISLANDS.  179 

with  young.  A  large  number  of  females  are  also  caught  on  their  way 
from  and  to  the  I'ribilof  Islands  and  their  feeding  grounds  before  and 
after  the  delivery  of  their  young  on  those  islands.  (0.  A.  Williams.) 

A  statement  is  attached  thereto,*  prepared  by  deponent,  giving  his 
estimate  of  the  number  of  female  seals  killed  by  pelagic  hunting  in  the 
past  twenty-one  years.  (<J.  A.  Williams.) 

That  for  the  last  lifteen  years  he  has  had  consigned  to  him  by  fur 
sealers  from  S.OOO  to  10,000  seal  skins  annually,  for  the*  purpose  of 
dressing  and  dyeing  the  same;  that  about  50  per  cent,  of  the  skins  so 
received  by  him  came  from  London  in  casks  marked  as  they  are  cata- 
logued by  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  and  are  the  skins  belonging  to  what 
is  known  as  the  Northwest  catch;  and  deponent  is  informed  and  believes 
that  the  Northwest  catch,  as  the  term  is  used  in  the  trade,  means  the 
skins  of  seals  caught  in  the  open  sea  and  not  upon  the  islands.  Another 
reason  for  this  belief  is  the  fact  that  all  of  the  skins  of  the  Northwest 
catch  contain  marks  showing  that  the  animal  has  been  killed  by  bullets 
or  buckshot,  the  skins  being  pierced  by  the  shot,  whereas  the  skins 
killed  cu  the  American  and  Kussiau  islands  are  killed  on  land  by  clubs 
ami  are  not  pierced. 

That  of  the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  coming  into  his  hands  for 
treatment  probably  all  are  the  skins  of  the  female  seal,  and  that  the 
same  can  be  distinguished  from  the  skins  of  the  male  seal  by  reason  of 
the  breasts  and  of  the  thinness  of  the  fur  around  the  same  and  upon 
the  belly,  most  of  the  females  being  killed  while  they  are  bearing  their 
young,  and  the  fur  therefore  being  stretched  and  thinner  over  that  part 
of  the  body;  and  also  for  the  further  reason  that  the  head  of  the  female 
seal  is  much  narrower  than  that  of  the  male  seal,  and  that  this  point  of 
difference  is  obvious  in  the  skins  of  the  two  classes;  that  of  the  total 
number  of  skins  received  by  him  about  25  per  cent  are  the  skins  of  the 
Alaska  and  Copper  catches;  that  all  the  skins  of  the  Alaska  catch  are 
male  seals,  and  an  overwhelming  proportion  of  the  Copper  catch  are 
likewise  male  skins;  that  the  remainder  of  the  skins  sent  to  deponent 
for  dressing  and  dyeing,  as  aforesaid,  are  received  by  him  through  the 
house  of  Herman  Liebes  &  Co.,  of  San  Francisco,  and  others,  the 
majority,  however,  from  Herman  Liebes  &  Co.  The  skins  received 
from  the  latter  sources  are  from  each  of  the  three  catches  known  to  the 
trade  as  the  Copper,  Alaska,  and  Northwest  catches,  although  the  major 
part  thereof  belong  to  what  is  known  as  the  Northwest  catch,  and  are, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  skins  received  from  London  of  that  catch,  all  skins 
of  the  female  seal.  (Jos.  D.  Williams.) 

In  examining  and  purchasing  seal  skins  from  schooners  in  their  raw 
state  I  have  observed  that  90  per  cent  of  their  catch  are  females.  I 
know  that  to  be  a  fact,  because  the  heads  of  the  females  are  smaller, 
the  bellies  larger,  and  the  teats  can  be  plainly  seen.  The  teats  show 
more  plainly  when  the  skin  is  dressed  and  dyed.  In  examining  the 
skins  taken  by  sealing  schooners  I  have  found  most  of  them  perforated 
with  shot,  making  them  much  less  valuable  thereby;  formerly  more  of 
then  used  to  be  killed  with  a  rifle,  which  did  not  injure  the  skin  as 
much.  (Maurice  Windmiller.) 

The  destruction  of  the  seals  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  as  well  as  in 
the  Bering  Sea,  is  largely  confined  to  females.  This  fact  can  not  be 
disputed  successfully.  I  made  an  examination  of  the  reports  of  the 

*  Not  furnished. 


ISM  H.AL    l.IFi:    ON    THE    1'lMIllLoF    ISLAM'S. 

tu'ent  lemen  wi:o  handled  flic  North  1'aeiiic  collection,  up  to  and  includ- 
ing lli»'  year  l^-W.  and  all  agreed  that  the  skins  were  nearly  all  from 
females.  It  may  not  l»c  out  of  ]>lacc  to  explain  that  the  saialler  value 
of  !  be  female  seal,  especially  a  ft  er  the  1  »irt  h  of  her  pi i  p.  is  in  a  measure 
(hie  to  the  v.  eariiiL:  'of  tiie  fur  around  the  teats.  The  amount  of  mer- 
chantable fur  beini:  reduced  to  that  extent,  makes  it  necessary  tor  the 
handlers  of  skins  to  observe  carefully  whet  her  pelts  are  male  or  female, 
as  well  as  their  .general  condition.  'I1  hey  make  a  complete  classification, 
and  beinu  experts  in  their  business  are  not  likelv  to  make  mistakes. 
Theo.  T.  Williams. 


STATE   or   CALIFORNIA, 

('Hi/  <'/»/  ('(unittf  it/'  Xtiii  /-Y'O/r/.vro.  .v.v.- 
Maurice  Windmiller.  having1  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  My 
a.u'e  i>  H>:  1  ri  side  in  San  I-Yancisco;  my  occupation  is  that  of  a  furrier. 
I  have  been  en^a^ed  in  the  fur  business  all  my  life,  and  my  father  was 
a  furrier  before  me.  I  am  an  expert  in  dressed  and  undressed,  raw.  and 
made-up  furs,  and  also  a  dealer  and  manufacturer  in  the  same.  1  have 
bought  and  examined  lar^e  numbers  of  fur-seal  skins  during  the  last 
twelve  years  caught  by  sealing  schooners  both  on  the  American  and 
llnssiun  side  of  the  North  Pacific  and  IJering  Sea.  and  I  can  easily  dis- 
tinguish one  from  t  he  other. 

The  Iviissiaii  seal  is  a  smaller  seal,  and  the  fur  is  not  as  close  as  the 
fur  of  the  Alaska  seal,  nor  as  ^ood  <jiiality.  They  are  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent h; -I'd  I'P;:M  those  on  the  American  side,  and  their  skins  have  pecu- 
liar characteristics  by  which  it  is  not  difficult  to  separate  them.  In 
examining  and  purchasing  seal  skins  from  the  schooners  in  their  raw 
state  ;  hu\c  observed  that  !H»  per  cent  of  their  catch  are  females.  L 
kno\\  that  to  be  a  fad  because  the  heads  of  the  females  are  smaller, 
the  bellies  larger,  and  the  teats  can  be  plainly  seen.  The  teats  show 
more  plainly  when  !  lie  skin  is  dressed  and  dyed.  In  examining  the 
Reals  taken  by  sealing  schooners  1  have  found  mo  t  of  them  perforated 
with  shot.  iiiakiiiL-;  them  much  less  valuable  thereby.  Formerly  more 
of  them  used  to  be  killed  with  a  riile.  which  did  not  injure  the  skins 
as  i u  c  h . 

MA  IKK'K    W  INDMILLKK. 


S'i  •.::;•!     '•-  :;       V<  HJK. 

(  ">'>i  <>/'  \<  it-    r< .•/'/;.  x.v: 

,I(i-'    pi  i    I  > .  .  '  i '    , ' ;   d  1 1 !  \'  s\\'i»ri  i .  sa  \'s   t !  ia  t    he   is    <  i    \  ea  rs  o! 

a '.' e.  ;i  n't;      :    i ,{'  the  I   nit ed  States,  and   a  I'esiden i  of  1  irookly n.  in  the 
St  a  t  e  ol  \  01  k  :    thai    he  1 1  a  -  1  >e<  n  eu  u  i  'j,cd  i  n  I  he  busi  ness  ol  dress- 

ii'ii'aiid    d  \  ei         f'ii    -eal   skins  eonl  innously  for   lil  i  '.ien  yeai1-  past,  and 
,     to    thai     lime,    at     intervals    diiriii'j'    the    \\-li •»!(•    lime    he    has    been 
e  ','_;;_<  d    i : ;    1  n  i  ••!  i  less.  <  In  i  1 1 1 14  a    perio<  1    of  some  ii  ft  \'- odd    years,  he    has 


SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  181 

dressed  ;md  dyed  seal  skins,  and  that  Ids  father  was  engaged  in  the 
same  business  before  him;  that  for  the  last  fifteen  years  he  has  had 
consigned  to  him  by  fur  dealers  from  8,000  to  10,000  seal  skins  annually 
tor  the  purpose  of  dressing  and  dyeing  the  same;  that  about  50  per 
cent  of  the  skins  so  received  by  him  came  from  London  in  casks'  marked 
as  they  are  catalogued  by  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  and  are  the  skins 
belonging  to  what  is  known  as  the  Northwest  catch;  and  deponent  is 
informed  and  believes  that  the  Northwest  catch,  as  the  term  is  used  in 
the  trade,  means  the  skins  of  seals  caught  in  the  open  sea,  and  not 
upon  the  islands.  Another  reason  for  tins  belief  is  the  fact  that  all  of 
the  skins  of  the  Xorthwest  catch  contain  marks  showing  that  the  ani- 
mal had  been  killed  by  bullets  or  buckshot,  the  skins  being  pierced  by 
the  shot,  whereas  the  skins  killed  on  the  American  and  Russian  islands 
are  killed  on  land  by  clubs  and  are  not  pierced. 

That  of  the  skins  of  the  Xorthwest  catch  coming  into  his  hands  for 
treatment  probably  all  are  the  skins  of  the  female  seal,  and  that  the 
same  can  be  distinguished  from  the  skins  of  the  male  seal  by  reason  of 
the  breasts  and  of  the  thinness  of  the  fur  around  the  same  and  upon 
the  belly,  most  of  the  female  seals  being  killed  while  they  are  bearing 
their  young,  and  the  fur  therefore  being  stretched  and  thinner  over  that 
part  of  the  body;  and  also  for  the  further  reason  that  the  head  of  the 
female  seal  is  much  narrower  than  that  of  the  male  sea!,  and  that  this 
point  of  difference  is  obvious  in  the  skins  of  the  two  classes.  That  of 
the  total  number  of  the  skins  received  by  him  about  25  per  cent  are  the 
skins  of  the  Alaska  and  Copper  catch.  That  all  the  skins  of  the  Alaska 
catch  are  male  seals,  and  an  overwhelming  proportion  of  the  Copper 
catch  are  likewise  male  skins.  That  the  remainder  of  the  skins  sent 
to  deponent  for  dressing  and  dyeing  as  aforesaid  are  received  by  him 
through  the  house  of  Herman  Liebes  &  Co.,  of  San  Francisco,  and 
others,  the  majority,  however,  from  Herman  Liebes  &  Co.  The  skins 
received  from  the  latter  sources  are  from  each  of  the  three  catches  known 
to  the  trade  as  the  Copper,  Alaska,  and  Northwest  catch,  although  the 
major  part  thereof  belong  to  what  is  known  as  the  Northwest  catch,  and 
are,  as  in  the  case  of  the  skins  received  from  London  of  that  catch,  all 
skins  of  the  female  seal. 

JOSEPH  D.  WILLIAMS. 


DESTRUCTION   OF   FEMALE   SEALS. 

Testimony  of  British  furriers. 

I  can  also  tell  by  examining  a  skin  whether  it  has  been  taken  from  a 
female  or  a  male.  1  have  examined  and  sorted  a  great  many  thousand 
skins  taken  from  sealing  schooners,  and  have  observed  that  they  are 
nearly  all  females,  a  few  being  old  bulls  and  yearlings.  A  female  seal 
has  a  smaller  head  and  a  larger  belly  when  with  young  than  a  male  seal, 
and  the  fur  on  the  belly  when  with  young  is  much  thinner,  and  the  fur 
on  the  belly  part  where  the  teats  are,  in  consequence  of  being  worn,  is 
not  worth  much,  and  has  to  be  cut  off  after  being  dyed.  (George 
Ban  tie.) 

The  skins  of  the  male  and  female  animal  are  readily  distinguishable 
from  each  other  in  the  adult  stage  by  reason  of  the  difference  in  the 
shape  of  the  heads.  That  the  Copper  and  Alaska  skins  are  almost 
exclusively  the  skins  of  the  male  animal,  and  the  skins  of  the  North- 


182  SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

west  catch  are  at  least  80  per  cent  of  the  skins  of  the  female  animal. 
That  prior  to  and  in  preparation  for  making  this  deposition  deponent 
says  he  carefully  looked  through  two  large  lots  of  skins  now  in  his 
warehouse  for  the  especial  purpose  of  estimating  the  percentage  of 
female  skins  found  among  the  Northwest  catch,  and  he  believes  the 
above  estimate  to  be  accurate.  That  the  skins  in  the  Northwest  catch 
are  also  pierced  with  shot  and  spear  marks,  in  consequence  of  having 
been  killed  in  the  open  water  instead  of  upon  land  by  club.  (H.  S. 
Bevington.) 

And  In  the  same  way  deponent  thinks,  from  his  own  personal  experi- 
ence in  handling  skins,  that  he  would  have  no  difficulty  whatever  in. 
separating  the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  from  the  skins  of  the 
Alaska  catch  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  they  are  the  skins  almost 
exclusively  of  females,  and  also  that  the  fur  upon  the  bearing  female 
seals  is  much  thinner  than  upon  the  skin  of  the  male  seals;  the  skin 
of  the  animal  while  pregnant  being  extended  and  the  fur  extended 
over  a  large  area.  (Alfred  Fraser.) 

That  the  said  firm  can  distinguish  very  readily  the  source  of  pro- 
duction of  the  skins  when  the  latter  are  in  their  undressed  state;  that 
for  several  years  besides  the  skins  of  the  regular  companies,  such  as 
the  Alaska  Company  (American  concessionaire)  and  the  Copper  Com- 
pany (Russian  concessionaire),  the  said  firm  has  bought  quantities  of 
skins  called  Northwest  Coast,  Victoria,  etc.  That  these  skins  are  those 
of  animals  caught  in  the  open  sea  by  persons  who  apparently  derive 
therefrom  large  profits,  and  nearly  three-quarters  of  them  are  those 
of  females  and  pups,  these  probably  being  less  difficult  to  take  than 
males;  that  these  animals  are  taken  by  being  shot.  That  the  seals 
taken  by  the  Alaska  and  Copper  companies  are  males:  the  destruction 
of  which  is  much  less  prejudicial  to  the  preservation  of  the  race,  and 
which  furnish  the  best  skins,  these  being  much  finer  and  more  furnished 
with  down  ;  that  they  are  killed  on  the  islands  with  clubs.  That  every 
animal  killed  by  ball  or  shot  bears  the  traces  of  such  slaughter,  which 
marks  greatly  depreciate  the  value  of  the  skin.  (Emin  Hertz.) 

An  essential  point  of  difference  between  the  skins  of  the  Northwest 
catch  and  the  skins  of  the  Alaska  and  Copper  Island  catches  consists 
in  the  fact  that  most  of  the  Northwest  skins  are  the  skins  of  the  female 
seal,  while  the  Copper  and  Alaska  skins  are  of  the  male  seal.  Deponent 
has  made  no  computation  or  examination  which  would  enable  him  to 
say  specifically  what  proportion  of  the  Northwest  catch  are  the  skins 
of  the  female  seal,  but  it  is  the  fact  that  the  great  majority,  deponent 
would  say  7.~>  to  80  per  cent,  of  the  skins  of  this  catch  are  the  skins  of 
the  female  animal.  The  skins  of  the  female  seal,  for  instance,  show  the 
marks  of  the  breast,  and  the  fur  on  the  belly  is  thinner,  and  the  whole 
of  the  fur  is  also  finer,  lower  in  pile;  that  is,  the  fibers  composing  the 
fur  are  shorter  than  in  the  case  of  the  male  seal.  Another  means  of  dis- 
tinguishing the  female  skins  from  the  skins  of  the  male  lies  in  the  fact 
that  the  skins  of  the  female  are  narrower  at  the  head  and  tail  and  pro- 
portionately wider  in  the  belly  than  the  skins  of  the  male  seal.  Another 
means  of  distinguishing  the  seals  of  the  Northwest  catch  from  those  of 
the  Copper  Island  and  Alaska  catches  consists  in  the  fact  that  nearly 
all  the  skins  of  this  catch  have  holes  in  them,  which  deponent  under- 
stands is  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  seals  from  which  they  are  taken 
have  been  shot  or  speared  in  the  open  sea,  and  not — as  is  the  case  with 
the  seals  from  which  the  skins  of  Copper  Island  and  Alaska  catches 
are  taken  and  killed— with  clubs  upon  land.  (Walter  E.  Martin.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    TI1K    I'KIIJILOF    ISLANDS.  183 


Both  the  Copper  Island  skins  and  the  Alaska  skins  are  almost  exclu- 
sively the  skins  of  the  male  seals,  and  the  difference  between  the  skin 
of  a  male  seal  and  a  teaiale  seal  of  adult  age  can  be  as  readily  seen  as 
between  the  skins  of  different  sexes  of  other  animals.  That  the  North- 
west skins  are.  in  turn  distinguishable  from  the  Copper  Island  and 
Alaska  skins,  first  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion 
of  the  adult  skins  are  obviously  the  skins  of  female  animals;  second, 
because  they  are  all  pierced  with  a  spear  or  harpoon  or  shot,  in  conse- 
quence of  belli"'  killed  in  open  sea,  and  not,  as  in  the  case  of  Copper 
Island  and  Alaska  skins,  being  killed  upon  land  by  clubs;  third, 
because  the  Northwest  skins  are  cured  upon  vessels  by  the  crews  of 
which  they  are  killed,  upon  which  there  are  not  the  same  facilities  for 
flaying  or  salting  the  skins  as  there  are  upon  land,  where  the  Copper 
and  Alaska  skins  are  Hayed  and  salted.  The  Japanese  skins,  which,  1 
think,  are  now  included  in  the  Northwest  catch,  are  distinguishable 
from  the  other  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  by  being  yellower  in  color, 
having  a  much  shorter  pile,  because  they  are  salted  with  fine  salt,  and 
have  plenty  of  blubber  on  the  pelt.  That  the  skins  purchased  by 
deponent's  firm  are  handed  over  by  it  to  what  are  called  dressers  and 
dyers,  for  the  purpose  of  being  dressed  and  dyed.  (Henry  Poland.) 

That  the  differences  in  the  skins  of  the  adult  male  and  the  adult 
female  seals  are  as  marked  as  the  difference  between  the  skins  of  the 
two  sexes  of  the  other  animals,  and  that  in  the  Xorthwest  catch  from 
85  to  90  per  cent  of  the  skins  are  of  the  female  animal.  Deponent 
does  not  mean  to  state  that  these  figures  are  mathematically  accurate, 
but  they  are,  in  his  judgment,  approximately  exact.  (Geo.  Rice.) 

I  should  estimate  the  proportion  of  female  skins  included  within  the 
Northwest  catch  at  at  least  75  per  cent,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised 
at,  nor  be  inclined  to  contradict,  an  estimate  of  upward  of  90  per  cent. 
My  sorter,  who  actually  handles  the  skins,  estimates  the  number  of 
female  skins  in  the  Northwest  catch  at  90  percent.  One  means  of  dis- 
tinguishing the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  from  those  of  the  other 
catches  is  the  fact  that  they  are  pierced  with  shot  or  spear  holes,  having 
been  killed  in  the  open  sea,  and  not,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Copper  and 
Alaska  catches,  killed  upon  land  with  clubs.  (William  C.  B.  Stamp.) 

The  number  of  Japanese  skins  averages,  deponent  should  say,  about 
6,000  a  year,  although  there  is  a  good  deal  of -fluctuation  in  the  quantity 
from  year  to  year,  and  deponent  says  that,  like  the  other  skins  included 
in  the  Northwest  catch,  they  are  principally  the  skins  of  female  seals, 
not  easily  distinguishable  from  the  skins  taken  from  the  herds  frequent- 
ing the  eastern  part  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea,  except  by 
reason  of  their  being  principally  speared  instead  of  shot.  The  most 
essential  difference  between  the  Northwest  skins  and  the  Alaska  and 
Copper  catches  is  that  the  Northwest  skins,  so  far  as  they  are  skins  of 
adult  seals,  are  almost  exclusively  the  skins  of  female  seals,  and  are 
nearly  always  pierced  with  shot,  bullet,  or  spear  holes.  The  skins  of 
the  adult  lemale  seals  maybe  as  readily  distinguishable  from  the  skins 
of  the  adult  male  as  the  skins  of  the  different  sexes  of  other  animals; 
that  practically  the  whole  of  the  adult  Northwest  catch  seals  were  the 
skins  of  female  seals,  but  the  skins  of  the  younger  animals  included 
within  this  Northwest  catch,  of  which  we  have  at  times  considerable 
numbers,  are  much  more  difficult  to  separate  into  male  and  female  skins, 
and  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  I  could  distinguish  the  male  from 
the  female  skins  of  young  animals.  A  certain  percentage  of  young 


184  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

animals  is  found  among'  the  consignments  received  by  us  at  the  begin- 
ning of  each  season,  which,  we  understand,  and  are  "informed,  are  the 
skins  of  seals  caught  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  off  the  west  coast  of  America, 
but  a  much  smaller  percentage  of  such  small  skins  is  found  among  the 
consignment  later  in  the  season,  which  we  are  informed  are  of  seals 
caught  in  the  Bering  Sea.  (Emil  Teichmann.) 


From  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.  to  C.  A.  WilliamSj  August  :.>£ 

LONDON,  64  QUEEN  STREET,  E.  C., 

August  22,  1889. 

DEAR  SIR:  We  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  3 our  favor  of  the  10th 
instant,  inclosing  draft  of  a  paper  to  be  submitted  to  Congress  on  mer- 
chant marine  and  fisheries. 

We  have  read  the  paper  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  and  consider 
that  it  places  the  matter  in  a  thoroughly  impartial  way  before  its  readers. 
It  has  been  so  carefully  prepared  and  goes  into  all  details  so  fully  that 
we  can  add  but  little  to  it.  There  are,  however,  one  or  two  points  to 
which  we  beg  to  draw  your  attention,  and  which  you  will  find  marked 
in  red  ink  on  the  paper. 

When  speaking  of  the  supply  of  fur  skins  we  would  suggest  mention- 
ing the  following  localities: 

Cape  of  Good  Hope. — From  some  islands  off  this  cape,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Cape  Government,  a  yearly  supply  of  from  5,000  to  8,000 
skins  is  derived.  All  these  skins  come  to  the  London  market,  part  of 
them  being  sold  at  public  auction,  the  remainder  being  dressed  and 
dyed  for  account  of  the  owners. 

Japan. — The  supply  from  this  source  has  varied  very  much  of  late 
years,  amounting  sometimes  to  15,000  skins  a  year,  at  others  to  only 
5,000.  Last  year,  we  understand,  the  Japanese  Gover:  ment  passed 
stringent  laws  prohibiting  the  killing  and  importation  of  seals,  with  the 
view  of  protecting  seal  life  and  encouraging  rookeries,  and  the  conse- 
quence has  been  that  this  year  very  few  skins  have  come  forward. 

Vancouver  Island. — For  many  years  past,  indeed  long  before  the  for- 
mation of  the  Alaska  Company,  regular  supplies  of  fur  seals  in  the 
salted  and  parchment  state  have  come  to  the  London  marker,  killed 
mostly  off  Cape  Flattery.  The  quantity,  we  should  say,  has  averaged 
at  least  10,000  per  annum.  This  catch  takes  place  in  the  months  of 
March  and  April,  and  we  believe  that  the  animals  Irom  which  these 
skins  are  derived  are  the  females  of  the  Alaska  seals,  just  the  same  as 
those  caught  in  the  Bering  JSea. 

Had  this  quantity  been  materially  increased,  we  feel  sure  that  the 
breeding  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  would  have  suffered  before  now;  but 
fortunately  the,  catch  must  necessarily  be  a  limited  one,  owing  to  the 
stormy  time  of  the  year  at  which  it  is  made  and  the  dangerous  coast, 
where  the  seals  only  for  a  short  time  are  f  und.  It  must,  however,  be 
evident  that  if  these  animals  are  followed  into  the  Bering  Sea  and  hunted 
down  in  a  calm  sea  in  the  quietest  months  of  the  year,  a  practically 
unlimited  quantity  of  females  might  be  taken,  and,  as  you  say,  it  would 
be  only  a  few  years  till  the  Alaska  seal  was  a  thing  of  the  past. 

C.  M.  LAMPSON  &  Co. 

C.  A.  WILLIAMS,  Esq.,  New  London. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    Till.    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  185 

TESTIMONY    RELATING    TO    THE    (JENERAL    SEAL  SKIN   INDUSTRY   IN 

(JREAT   BRITAIN. 

of  H.  S.  BevhujtoH,  head  of  the  Jinn  of  Jtevington  &  Morris, 

London. 


II.  S.  Bevington,  M.  A.,  being  duly  sworn,  doth  depose  and  say: 
That  lie  is  -10  years  of  age  and  a,  subject  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  and 
is  the  head  of  the  linn  of  Bevington  &  Morris,  doing  business  as  fur 
inen-hants  and  manufacturers  at  1*8  Cannon  street,  in  the  city  of  Lon- 
don; that  his  said  linn  was  founded  in  the  year  1726,  and  has  been 
continued  in  the  same  family  during  the  whole  of  these  years  down  to 
the  present  time,  and  has  been  engaged  during  the  whole  of  the  period 
since  17'JG  in  the  same  business,  dealing  in  furs  and  leather;  that 
deponent  has  been  in  the  business  ever  since  the  year  1873.  During 
the  whole  of  the  period  since  that  date  his  said  firm  has  been  in  the 
habit  of  buying  fur-seal  skins,  and  he  knows  from  his  general  knowl- 
edge of  the  business  that  prior  to  that  time  they  were  in  the  habit  of 
buying  seal  skins  ever  since  they  became  an  article  of  commerce;  that 
deponent  has  personally  handled  many  thousands  of  skins  of  the  fur 
seal,  and  by  reason  of  that  fact  and  of  his  experience  in  his  business, 
has  a  general  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  fur-seal  skin  business 
and  a  general  and  precise  knowledge  of  the  several  kinds  of  skins 
which  now  and  for  many  years  last  past  have  come  upon  the  London 
market;  that  since  deponent  has  been  in  business  skins  coming  upon 
the  London  market  have  been  principally  divided  into  three  classes, 
known  as  the  Alaska  catch,  the  Copper  catch,  and  the  Northwest  catch. 
Small  supplies  have  also  been  received  fiom  the  Southern  Sea,  and 
Lobos  Islands,  Falkland  Islands,  and  Cape  Horn,  but  the  skins  arriving 
from  these  last  -mentioned  localities  make  IK>  figure  in  the  market;  that 
what  is  known  as  the  Alaska  catch  consists  of  skins  of  seals  which  are 
killed  ui)on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  in  the  Bering  Sea,  and  the  Copper 
catch  of  skins  which  are  killed  upon  the  Copper  and  llering  islands, 
in  Russian  waters. 

That  the  Northwest  skins  consist  of  skins  taken  from  animals  which 
are  caught  in  the  open  Pacific  Ocean  off  the  coast  of  Biitish  Columbia 
pr  in  the  Bering  Sea;  that  the  differences  between  the  three  several 
sorts  of  skins  last  mentioned  are  so  marked  as  to  enable  any  person 
skilled  in  the  business  or  accustomed  to  handle  the  same  to  readily 
distinguish  the  skins  of  one  catch  from  those  of  another,  especially  in 
bulk,  and  it  is  the  fact  that  when  they  reach  the  market  the  skins  of 
each  class  come  separately  and  are  not  found  mingled  with  those 
belonging  to  the  other  classes.  The  skins  of  the  Copper  Island  catch 
are  distinguished  from  the  skins  of  the  Alaska  and  Xor;hwest  catch, 
which  two  last-mentioned  classes  of  skins  appear  to  be  nearly  allied  to 
each  other,  and  are  of  the  same  general  character,  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  in  their  raw  state  the  Copper  skins  are  lighter  in  color  than 
either  of  the  other  two,  and  in  the  dried  state  there  is  a  marked  differ- 
ence in  the  appearance  of  the  fur  of  the  Copper  and  the  other  two 
classes  of  skins.  This  difference  is  difficult  to  describe  to  a  person 
unaccustomed  to  handle  skins,  but  it  is  nevertheless  clear  and  distinct 
to  an  expert,  and  may  be  generally  described  by  saying  that  the  Copper 
skin^  are  of  a  close,  short,  and  shiny  fur,  particularly  down  by  the  flank, 
to  a  greater  extent  than  the  Alaska  and  Northwest  skins.  The  skins 
of  the  male  and  female  animal  are  readily  distinguished  from  each  other 
in  the  adult  stage  by  reason  of  the  difference  in  the  shape  of  the  heads; 


186  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

that  the  Copper  and  Alaska  skins  are  almost  exclusively  the  skins  of 
the  male  animal,  and  the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  are  at  least  80 
per  cent  of  the  skins  of  the  female  animal;  that,  prior  to  and  in  prepa 
ration  for  making  this  deposition,  deponent  says,  he  carefully  looked 
through  two  large  lots  of  skins  now  in  his  warehouse  for  the  special 
purpose  of  estimating-  the  percentage  of  female  skins  found  among  the 
Northwest  catch,  and  he  believes  the  above  estimate  to  be  accurate. 

That  the  skins  in  the  North  west  catch  are  also  pierced  with  shot  and 
spear  marks,  in  consequence  of  having  been  killed  in  the  open  water 
instead  of  upon  land  by  clubs;  that  the  business  of  dealing  in  fur  seal 
skins  in  the  city  of  London  has  become  an  established  and  important 
industry.  Deponent  is  informed  that  practically  all  the  seal  skins  in 
the  world  are  sold  in  London,  and  the  number  runs  up  in  the  year  to 
between  100,000  and  200,000,  averaging  considerably  over  150,000  a 
year.  These  skins  are  sold  for  the  most  part  either  by  the  tirm  of  0.  M. 
Lampson  &  Co.,  through  their  brokers,  Goad,  Rigg  &  Co.,  or  by  the 
firm  of  Culverwell,  Brooks  &  Co.  At  the  auction  sales,  which  are 
advertised  two  or  three  times  in  the  year  by  these  linns,  skins  are 
bought  by  dealers  from  all  over  the  world,  who  are  present  either  in 
person  or  by  proxy.  The  next  stage  in  the  industry  is  the  dressing  and 
dyeing  of  the  furs,  and  practically  the  whole  of  these  fur-seal  skins  sold 
in  London  are  dressed  and  dyed  in  that  city.  The  principal  firms 
engaged  in  that  business  aie  C.  W.  Martin  &  Sons  and  George  Rice. 
Deponent's  own  firm  dress  a  small  number  of  skins,  and  have  dressed 
in  one  year  as  many  as  23,000,  and  formerly  dyed  large  numbers  of 
skins,  but  do  not  now  dye  skins,  as  the  secret  of  the  present  fashionable 
color  is  now  iu  the  hands  of  other  firms.  After  having  been  dressed 
and  dyed,  the  skins  of  the  fur  seal  are  then  passed  into  the  hands  of 
fur  merchants,  by  whom,  in  turn,  they  are  passed  to  furriers  and  dra- 
pers and  retail  dealers  generally.  Deponent  estimates  the  total  num- 
ber of  persons  engaged  in  one  way  or  another,  directly  or  indirectly,  in 
the  fur  seal  industry  in  the  city  of  London  to  be  at  least  2,000  or  3,000, 
many  of  whom  are  skilled  laborers,  all  receiving  high  wages. 

That  a  large  amount  of  capital  is  also  invested  in  the  business  in  the 
city  of  London,  and  the  precise  value  of  the  industry  can  be  estimated 
by  reckoning  the  amount  expended  in  the  various  processes  which 
deponent  has  enumerated  upon  each  skin.  For  instance,  after  the  skins 
arrive  at  the  London  market  they  are  sold  at  the  sales  at  prices  which 
in  the  year  1890  averaged,  say,  80  shillings  apiece.  The  commissions  on 
the  selling  of  the  goods,  including  warehousing,  insurance,  and  so  forth, 
deponent  believes,  amount  to  (>  per  cent  of  the  price  obtained.  That 
the  amount  paid  for  dressing,  dyeing,  and  machining  each  skin  aver- 
ages, say,  1(>  shillings.  These  processes  take  together  about  four  or  five 
months.  The  next  expenditure  upon  the  skin  is,  say,  an  average  of  5 
shillings  at  least  for  each  skin  for  cutting  up,  and  that  thereafter  there 
will  be  an  average  of  at  least  from  3  to  4  shillings  per  skin  expended  in 
quilting,  lining,  and  making  up  the  jackets  or  other  garments,  showing 
a  total  expenditure  upon  each  skin  for  labor  alone,  in  the  city  of  Lon- 
don, of  25  shillings  in  addition  to  the  percentage  paid  for  brokerage, 
before  the  processes  of  manufacture  began,  and  the  most  of  this  money 
is  actually  paid  out  in  wages. 

Deponent  says  that  in  the  above  estimates  he  has  given  the  bottom 
figures,  and  that  the  amount  actually  expended  upon  the  skins  in  the 
city  of  London  undoubtedly  averages  a  larger  sum.  This  would  make 
on  an  average  of  200,000  skins  a  year,  which  is  not  excessive,  a  total 
expenditure  annually  in  the  city  of  London  of  £250,000,  minus  the 


Sn.AL    LIFK    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  187 

amounts  paid  lor  cutting  and  making  up  in  respect  to  the  skins  sent  to 
the  I'nited  States. 

Deponent  further  says  that  the  preservation  of  the  seal  herds  and 
the  continued  supply  of  fur-seal  skins,  which  furthermore,  it  is  impor- 
tant should  be  constant  and  regular  in  supply,  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  the  maintenance  of  this  industry.  Deponent  says  that  the  reason 
for  this  opinion  is  shown  in  the  history  of  last  season's  business.  For 
instance,  at  the  October  sale  the  prices  of  skins  were  very  high,  as  a 
short  supply  was  expected.  The  skius  purchased  at  that  sale  were 
then  put  into  the  hands  of  the  dressers  and  dyers,  where  they  would 
be  retained,  as  above  stated,  in  process  of  treatment  four  or  five  months. 
During  this  interval  it  appeared  that  instead  of  there  being  a  short 
supply  the  poaching  vessels  had  caught  a  large  number  of  skins,  50,000 
or  (>(>,0()0,  which,  being  unexpectedly  plumped  on  the  market,  brought 
the  price  down  so  that  there  was  a  loss  of  perhaps  2<~>  shillings  per  skin 
on  the  skins  bought  at  the  October  sales;  and  deponent  further  says 
that  it  is  of  course  obvious  that  the  business  can  not  be  maintained 
unless  the  herds  are  preserved  from  the  destruction  which  has  over- 
taken the  South  Sea  herds,  which  formerly  existed  in  such  large  num- 
bers, and  so  important  has  the  seal-skin  business  become  that  if  the 
herds  were  exterminated  deponent  says  it  would  hardly  be  worth  while 
to  remain  in  the  fur  business. 

Deponent  says  while  he  does  not  wish  to  express  any  opinion  upon 
the  matters  which  are  in  controversy,  that  nevertheless,  looking  at  the 
question  of  preserving  the  seals  from  a  natural-history  point  of  view 
alone,  and  having  no  regard  whatever  to  the  rights  of  any  individuals 
or  nations,  but  looking  at  the  matter  simply  from  the  point  of  view  of 
how  best  to  preserve  the  seals,  he  has  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  best 
way  to  accomplish  that  object  would  be  to  prohibit  absolutely 'the  kill- 
ing of  all  seals  except  upon  the  islands,  and  furthermore  to  limit  the 
killing  of  seals  on  the  islands  to  the  male  species  at  particular  times, 
ami  to  limit  the  numbers  of  the  males  to  be  so  killed.  If,  however,  the 
rights  of  individuals  are  to  be  considered,  and  sealing  in  the  open  sea 
is  to  be  allowed,  then  deponent  thinks  that  the  number  of  vessels  to 
be  sent  out  by  each  country  ought  to  be  limited,  and  the  number  of 
seals  which  may  be  caught  by  each  vessel  should  be  specified. 

Deponent  says  that  one  reason  why  he  thinks  the  killing  of  seals  in 
the  open  sea*  should  be  prohibited,  and  all  killing  limited  to  the  islands, 
is  because  deponent  is  of  the  opinion  that  when  seals  are  killed  in  the 
open  sea  a  large  number  must  be  killed  which  are  not  recovered,  and 
consequently  that  the  herds  must  sutler  much  greater  loss  than  is 
measured  by  the  skins  of  the  seals  caught  or  coming  to  market. 

Deponent  further  says  that  one  reason  for  this  opinion  is  that  he  has 
had  some  small  experience  in  shooting  hair  seals  in  the  Scilly  Islands, 
and  has  himself  personally  killed  hair  seals  at  a  distance  of  40  or  50 
yards  which  sank  before  he  could  reach  them.  Hair  seals  are  of  the 
same  general  family  as  fur  seals,  and  he  has  no  doubt  that  the  same 
thing  occurs  and  must  occur  when  the  fur  seals  are  killed  on  the  open 
sea. 

HERBERT  SHELLEY  BEVINGTON,  M.  A. 


188  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Deposition  of  Alfred  Fraser,  member  of  firm  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co., 

furriers,  London. 

STATE  OF  NEW  YORK, 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss : 
Alfred  Fraser,  being  duly  sworn,  says: 

(1)  That  he  is  a  subject  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  and  is  52  years  of 
age  and  resides  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
That  he  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  of  London, 
and  has  been  a  member  of  said  firm  for  about  thirteen  years ;  prior  to 
that  time  he  was  in  the  employ  of  said  firm  and  took  an  active  part  in 
the  management  of  the  business  of  said  firm  in  London.     That  the  busi- 
ness of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  is  that  of  merchants,  engaged  princi- 
pally in  the  business  of  selling  fur  skins  on  commission.     That  for 
about  twenty-four  years  the  firm  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.  have  sold 
the  great  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  seal  skins  sold  in  all  the 
markets  of  the  world.     That  while  he  was  engaged  in  the  management 
of  the  business  of  said  firm  in  London   he  had  personal  knowledge  of 
the  character  of  the  various  seal  skins  sold  by  the  said  firm,  fiom  his 
personal  inspection  of  the  same  in  their  warehouse  and  from  the  phys- 
ical handling  of  the  same  by  him.     That  many  hundred  thousands' of 
the  skins  sold  by  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.  have  physically  passed  through 
his  hands,  and  that  since  his  residence  in  this  country  lie  has,  as  a 
member  of  said  firm,  had  a  general  and  detailed  knowledge  of  the  char- 
acter and  extent  of  the  business  of  said  firm,  although  since  his  resi- 
dence in  the  city  of  New  York  he  has  not  physically  handled  the  skins 
disposed  of  by  his  firm. 

That  during  the  last  year  or  two  a  large  number  of  skins  have  been 
sold  in  London  by  the  firm  of  Culverwell,  Brooks  &  Co.,  and  that  said 
firm,  as  deponent  is  informed  and  believes,  have  secured  the  consign- 
ment of  skins  to  them  during  the  period  aforesaid  by  advancing  to  the 
owners  of  vessels  engaged  in  what  is  now  known  as  pelagic  sealing 
sums  of  money,  which  is  stated  to  be  $15  per  skin,  as  against  ship- 
ments from  Victoria  of  such  skins. 

(2)  That  the  seal  skins  which  have  been  sold  in  London  from  time  to 
time  since  deponent  first  began  business  have  been  obtained   from 
sources  and  were  known  in  the  market  as — 

(a)  The  South  Sea  skins,  being  the  skins  of  seals  principally  caught 
on  the  South  Shetland  Islands,  South  George  Islands,  and  Sandwich 
Land.  That  many  years  ago  large  numbers  of  seals  were  caught  upon 
these  islands,  but  in  consequence  of  the  fact  that  no  restrictions  were 
imposed  on  the  killing  of  said  seals,  they  were  practically  exterminated, 
and  no  seal  skins  appeared  in  the  market  from  those  localities  for  many 
years.  That  about  twenty  years  ago  these  islands  were  again  visited, 
and  for  five  seasons  a  considerable  catch  was  made,  amounting,  during 
the  whole  five  seasons,  to  about  30,000  or  40,000  skins.  Among  the 
skins  found  in  this  catch  were  those  of  the  oldest  males  and  the  small- 
est pups,  thus  showing,  in  the  judgment  of  deponent,  that  every  seal 
of  every  kind  was  killed  that  could  be  reached.  That  in  consequence 
thereof  the  rookeries  on  these  islands  were  then  completely  exhausted. 
Once  or  twice  thereafter  they  were  visited  without  result,  no  seals 
being  found,  and  about  five  years  ago  they  were  again  revisited  and 
only  3(>  skins  were  obtained.  Deponent  is  informed  that  all  the  South 
Sea  skins  were  obtained  by  killing  seals  upon  the  islands  above  men- 
tioned, and  that  it  is  obviously  every  where  much  easier  to  kill  seals  upon 
the  land  than  in  the  water;  and,  in  the  judgment  of  the  deponent,  the 
seals  of  the  above-mentioned  islands  were  thus  entirely  exterminated 


MSAL    LIFE    ON    THE    I'lUHILOF    ISLANDS. 

because  of  Mie  entire  absence  of  any  protection  or  of  any  restriction  of 
any  kind  whatever  upon  the  number,  age,  or  sex  of  seals  killed,  and 
not  merely,  as  deponent  understands  has  been  claimed  by  some  author- 
ities, because  they  were  killed  on  land  instead  of  in  open  sea,  which, 
moreover,  in  that  locality,  deponent  is  informed,  is  practically  impos- 
sible, by  reason  of  the  roughness  of  the  sea  and  weather. 

(b)  A  considerable  number  of  seal  skins  were  formerly  obtained  upon 
the  Falkland  Islands;   how  many  deponent  is  not  able  to  state. 

(c)  That  a  certain  number  of  seals  were  also  caught  at  Cape   Horn, 
and  that  more  or  less  are  still  taken  in  that  vicinity,  though  the  whole 
number  has  been  very  greatly  reduced. 

(<l)  That  at  the  present  time  and  for  many  years  last  past  the  skins 
coming  to  the  market  and  which  are  known  to  commerce  have  come 
from  the  following  sources:  l>y  far  the  most  important  are  the  Northern 
Pacih'c  skins,  which  are  known  to  the  trade  under  the  following  titles: 

The  Alaska  catch,  which  are  the  skins  of  seals  caught  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands,  situated  in  Bering  Sea.  For  many  years  past  the  whole  of  the 
skins  caught  upon  these  islands  have  been  sold  by  deponent's  firm,  and 
a  statement  of  the  number  of  skins  so  sold  in  each  year  is  appended 
hereto  and  marked  Exhibit  A,  showing  the  aggregate  of  such  skins 
sold  from  the  year  1870  to  the  year  1891,  inclusive,  as  1,877,977. 

The  Copper  catch,  being  the  skins  of  seals  caught  upon  what  are  known 
as  the  Commander  Islands,  being  the  islands  known  as  Copper  and 
Bering  islands.  All  the  skins  so  caught  have  been  sold  by  deponent's 
firm  in  the  city  of  London,  and  the  total  number  of  such  Copper  catch 
from  the  year  187 '1  to  1892  appears  upon  the  statement  which  is  hereto 
annexed  and  marked  Exhibit  B,  showing  the  total  so  sold  during  such 
years  of  768,090  skins. 

The  Northwest  catch,  being  the  skins  of  seals  caught  in  the  open  sea 
either  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  or  the  Bering  Sea.  These  skins  were 
originally  caught  exclusively  by  the  Indians  and  by  residents  of  the 
colony  of  Victoria  and  along  the  coast  of  the  British  possessions.  A 
statement  of  the  total  number  of  the  catch  from  the  year  1808  to  1884, 
inclusive,  is  appended  hereto  and  marked  Exhibit  0,  showing  a  total  of 
153,348.  That  statement  is  divided  into  three  heads:  First,  the  salted 
Northwest  coast  skins;  second,  the  dried  Northwest  coast  skins,  both 
of  which  were  mainly  sold  through  deponent's  firm  in  London;  and 
third,  salted  Northwest  coast  skins,  dressed  and  dyed  in  London,  but 
not  sold  there.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the  years  1871  and  1872  an 
unusually  large  proportion  of  dried  skins  appeared  to  have  been 
marketed.  Those  skins  were  purchased  in  this  year  from  the  American  - 
Kussian  Company  and  sold  when  the  Americans  took  possession.  For 
the  years  1871  and  1872,  therefore,  the  surplus  skins  over  the  average 
for  the  other  years  should  be  rejected  in  a  computation  of  the  general 
average  of  seals  killed  during  the  years  from  1808  to  1884,  inclusive. 

From  the  year  1885  to  the  year  1891  the  number  of  skins  included  in 
the  Northwest  catch  enormously  increased,  and  a  statement  of  such 
skins  is  hereto  annexed  and  marked  Exhibit  1),  showing  a  total  of 
3.')  1.902,  and  is  divided,  like  the  statement  marked  Exhibit  C,  into  three 
heads:  The  salted  Northwest  coast  skins,  the  dried  Northwest  coast 
skins,  and  the  salted  skins  dressed  and  dyed  in  London  but  not  sold 
there.  The  majority  of  the  first  two  classes  were,  as  in  the  previous 
case,  sold  by  deponent's  firm.  The  great  majority  of  these  skins  appear- 
ing in  the  last-mentioned  statement  are  the  skins  caught  by  vessels  sent 
out  from  the  Canadian  provinces;  many  also  by  vessels  sent  out  from 
San  Francisco,  Port  Townsend.  and  Seattle,  and  a  few  from  vessels 
sent  out  from  Yokohama;  the  majority,  however,  are  supposed  to  have 


190  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

been  caught  by  vessels  sent  out  from  British  harbors.  A  large  number 
of  the  skins  included  in  Exhibit  D  have  been  consigned  to  C.  M.  Lamp- 
son  &  Co.  by  the  firm  of  Herman  Liebes  &  «.o.,  of  San  Francisco.  In 
estimating  the  total  number  of  the  Northwest  catch  it  should  also  be 
mentioned  that  something  like  30,000  skins  belonging  to  that  catch  have 
been  dressed  and  dyed  in  the  United  States,  which  have  not  gone  to 
London  at  all. 

(e)  Besides  the  Alaska,  Copper,  and  Northwest  skins  there  ;ire  also 
a  certain  number  of  skins  arriving  in  London  known  as  the  Lobos 
Island  skins,  although  the  same  are  not  handled  by  the  firm  of  C.  M. 
Lampson  &  Co.,  but  the  total  number  of  which,  from  the  year  1872  to  the 
year  181)1,  inclusive,  is.  as  appears  from  the  catalogues  of  sales,  247,777. 
The  Lobos  Island  skins  are  those  of  seals  killed  on  the  Lobos  Island, 
belonging  to  the  Republic  of  Uruguay;  and  deponent  is  informed  and 
believes  that  there  is  no  open  sea  sealing  in  the  vicinity  of  such  island, 
and  that  the  animals  are  protected  on  the  island  as  they  are  on  the 
Eussian  and  Pribilof  islands,  by  prohibition  from  the  killing  of  females 
and  limiting  the  number  of  males  killed  in  each  year.  A  statement  of 
the  seals  killed  on  Lobos  Island  is  hereto  annexed  and  marked  Exhibit 
E,  from  which  it  appears  that  there  is  a  regular  annual  supply  obtained 
from  that  source,  which  shows  no  diminution. 

(/')  There  are  also  a  certain  number  ot  skins  sold  in  London  obtained 
from  rookeries  at  or  near  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  exact  number  of 
which  deponent  is  not  able  to  state,  but  which,  he  is  informed,  shows 
a  steady  yield. 

The  statements  marked  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E,  hereunto  appended,  have 
been  carefully  prepared  by  me  personally,  and  the  figures  therein 
stated  have  been  compiled  by  me  from  the  several  sale  catalogues  of 
C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  and  others  from  my  private  books  which  1  kept 
during  all  the  years  covered  by  the  statements,  and  1  am  sure  that 
these  statements  are  substantially  accurate  and  truly  state  the  respec- 
tive numbers  of  the  skins  caught  and  sold  which  they  purport  to  state. 

(3)  The  great  majority  of  the  skins  sold  from  the  Northwest  catch 
are  the  skins  of  female  seals.     Deponent  is  not  able  to  state  exactly 
what  proportion  of  such  skins  are  the  skins  of  females,  but  estimates 
it  to  be  at  least  85  per  cent,  and  the  skins  of  females  are  readily  dis- 
tinguishable from  those  of  the  males  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  on  the 
breast  and  on  the  belly  of  the  bearing  female  there  is  comparatively 
little  fur,  whereas  on  the  skins  of  the  male  seals  the  fur  is  evenly  dis- 
tributed ;  and  also  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  female  seal  has  a  nar- 
row head  and  the  male  seal  a  broad  head  and  neck;  and  the  skins  of 
this  catch  are  also  distinguishable  from  the  Alaska  and  Copper  catch 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  seals  are  killed  by  bullets  or  buckshot  or 
speared,  and  not,  as  on  the  Pribilof  and  Commander  islands,  by  clubs. 
Marks  of  such  bullets  or  buckshot  or  spears  are  clearly  discernable  in 
the  skins,  and  there  is  a  marked  diiference  in  the  commercial  value  of 
the  female  skins  and  of  the  male  skins.    This  fact,  that  the  Northwest 
skins  are  so  largely  the  skins  of  females,  is  further  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  in  many  of  the  early  sales  of  such  skins  they  are  classified  in 
deponent's  books  as  the  skins  of  females. 

(4)  Deponent  further  says,  that  in  his  judgment  the  absolute  prohibi- 
tion of  pelagic  sealing,  i.  e.,  the  killing  of  seals  in  the  open  sea,  whether 
in  the  North  Pacific  or  the  Bering  Sea,  is  necessary  to  the  preservation 
of  the  seal  herds  now  surviving,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  most  of  the 
females  so  killed  are  heavy  with  young,  and  that  necessarily  the  increase 
of  the  species  is  diminished  by  their  killing.    And  further,  from  the  fact 
that  a  large  number  of  females  are  killed  in  the  Bering  Sea  while  on 


tin4 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS. 


191 


search  for  food  after  tlie  birth  of  their  young,  and  tluit  in  conse- 
quence thereof  the  pups  die  for  want  of  nourishment.  Deponent  has 
no  personal  knowledge  of  the  trnt.li  of  this  statement,  but  he  has  infor- 
mation in  respect  of  the  same  from  persons  who  have  been  on  the  Pri- 
bilof  Islands,  and  he  believes  the  same  to  be .  ti  tie.  Deponent  further 
says  that  this  opinion  is  based  upon  the  assumption  r  hat  the  present 
restriction  imposed  by  Kussia  and  the  United  States  on  the  killing  of 
seals  on  their  respective  islands  are  to  be  maintained,  otherwise  it 
would  be  necessary  to  impose  such  restrictions  as  well  as  to  prohibit 
pelagic  sealing  in  order  to  preserve  the  herds. 

(5)  Deponent  is  further  of  the  opinion,  from  his  long  observation  and 
handling  of  the  skins  of  the  several  catches,  that  the  skins  of  the 
Alaska  and  Copper  catches  are  readily  distinguishable  from  each  other, 
and  that  the  herds  from  which  such  skins  are  obtained  do  not  in  fact 
intermingle  with  each  other,  because  the  skins  classified  under  the 
head  of  Copper  catch  are  not  found  among  the  consignments  of  skins 
received  from  the  Alaska  catch,  and  vice  versa. 

(6)  Deponent  further  says  that  the  distinction  between  the  skins  of 
the  several  catches  is  so  marked,  that  in  his  judgment  he  would,  for 
instance,  have  had  no  difficulty  had  there  been  included  among  100,000 
skins  in  Alaska  catch  1,000  skins  of  the  Copper  catch, in  distinguishing 
the  1,000  Copper  skins  and  separating  them  from  the  1)9,000  Alaska 
skins,  or  that  any  other  person  with  equal  or  less  experience  in  the 
handling  of  skins  would  be  equally  able  to  distinguish  them.     And  in 
the  same  way  deponent  thinks,  from  his  own  personal  experience  in 
handling  skins,  that  he  would  have  no  difficulty  whatever  in  separating 
the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  and  the  Alaska  catch,  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  they  are  the  skins  almost  exclusively  of  females,  and  also  that 
the  fur  upon  the  bearing  female  seals  is  much  thinner  than  upon  the 
skin  of  the  male  seals,  the  skin  of  the  animal  while  pregnant  being 
distended  and  the  fur  extended  over  a  large  area. 

(7)  Deponent  says  that  the  number  of  persons  who  are  employed  in 
the  handling,  dressing,  dyeing,  cutting,  and   manufacturing  of  seal 
skins  in  the  city  of  London  is  about  2,000,  many  of  whom  are  skilled 
laborers  earning  as  high  as  £3  or  £4  a  week.    Deponent  estimates  the 
amount  paid  in  the  city  of  London  for  wages  in  the  preparation  of  fur- 
seal  skins  for  a  manufacturer's  use,  and  excluding  the  wages  of  manu- 
facturers' employees,  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  pelagic  sealing  in 
1885,  at  about  £100,000  per  annum;  and  deponent  further  says  that  in 
his  judgment  if  this  pelagic  sealing  be  not  prohibited,  it  is  but  a  question 
of  a  few  years,  probably  not  more  than  three,  when  the  industry  will 
cease  by  reason  of  the  extermination  of  the  seals  in  the  same  way  in 
which  they  have  been  exterminated  on  the  South  Sea  Islands,  by  reason 
of  no  restrictions  being  imposed  upon  their  killing. 

ALFRED  FRASER. 


EXHIBIT  A. 
Salted  Alaska  fur  seal  skins  sold  in  London. 


Tear. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

187D 
1871 
1  872 

1874 

9,965 
100,896 

!)•;.  •_>*:; 

101,  IMS 
90,  150 

1875. 
1876. 
1877  . 
1878. 

187!)  . 

. 

99,  634 
90,  267 
75,  410 
99,911 
100,080 

1880 
1881 
1882 
1  1883 
1884 

1 

100,  161 
99,  921 
100,  100 
75,  914 
99,  887 

1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 

99,719 
99,  910 

(.»9,  !>40 
100,  000 
100,  000 

1890  
1891  

Total.. 

5     20,  994 
I   a  4,  158 
13,  473 

1,  877,  977 

a  Food  skins. 


192 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

EXHIBIT  B. 

Copper  Island  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London. 


Year.        Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year.         Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

187°             j       7  182 

1877 

25  380 

1882 

39  111 

1>*7                54  584 

1892 

30  678 

1873  21,  614 
1874  30,349 
1875                  34,  479 

1878 
1879 
1880 

19,  000 
28,211 

38,  885 

1883  .... 

1884  .    ... 
1885  .    ... 

36,  500 
12(5.  675 
48,  929 

1888  46.  333 
L889  47.41U 
1890      .  .        95,  48(5 

Total.. 

708.  096 

1876  33,298 

1  1881 

45,  209 

1886.   ... 

41,  752 

1891  17,025 

EXHIBIT  C. 
Salted  Northwest  coast  fur -seal  skins  sold  in  London  prior  to  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year.         Skins. 

Year.         Skins. 

1872 

1  029 

1875 

1,646 

1878 

264 

1881                  9  997 

1884                   9  °4 

1873      

1876  .  . 

2,042 

1879  

12,  212 

1882    11,717 

1874 



4  949 

1877 

1880 

8  939 

1883                 2  319 

Total           04  i!6 

'         | 

Salted  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  dressed  and  dyed  in  London  (but  not  sold  there) 
taken  prior  to  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Hea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year.         Skins. 

Year.         Skins. 

1872  
1873 

699 
40 

1875  
1876  

578 
1,062 

1878  
1879  

2,434  i 
2,397 

1881  5,890 
1882  11,727 

1884  9.  242 

1874  

]22 

1877  

772 

1880  

4,562 

1883  2.  319  ; 

Total..        46,215 

Dry  Southwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  prior  to  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year.         Skins. 

1 

Year. 

Skins. 

1868  
1869 

2,141 
1  671 

1872  .  .  . 
1873 

14,  584 
801 

1876  

1877 

993 

1  173 

1880  
188J                      686 

1884  

785 

1870  
1871  

684 
12,  495 

1874  
1875  

2,  772 
1,351 

1878  
1879  

912 
918 

1882  321 
1883  390 

Total.. 

1 

42,  767 

Of  the  skins  sold  in  1871  and  1872  a  very  large  proportion  were  the  accumulation  of  the  Russian- 
American  Company,  and  sold  by  them  after  the  purchase  of  Alaska  by  the  United  States. 

KECAPITULATION. 


Years. 


Salted  skins  sold  in  London ls,:Ms8t 

Salted  skins  dressed  and  dyed  in  London 

Dry  skins  sold  in  London 1868-1884 


(U.3GO 
46,215 
42,  7(57 


Grand  total 153,348 


EXHIBIT  D. 

Dry  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  after  commencement  of  pelagic  sealing 

in  Bering  Sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Year. 

Skins. 

1885    .  ... 

1  520 

1888 

•   .)-.) 

1891 

1   i,g;j 

1886 

979 

1889 

228 

1887 

2  843 

1890 

699 

Total  

8,604 

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


193 


Salted  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  dressed  and  di/ed  in  London   (but  not  sold  there) 
taken  after  the  commencement  of  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

1885 

16  667 

1889        

2  017 

1886  

15,  087 

1887 

3  589 

Total 

39  290 

1888 

1,930 

In  addition  to  above,  it  is  estimated  that  from  25,000  to  30,000  skins  have  been  dressed  and  dyed  in 
the  United  States.— E.  T.  R.,  jr.,  notary  public. 

Salted  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  after  commencement  of  pelagic  sealing 

in  Bering  Sea. 


Year.                                    Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

1885  2,078 

1890  

38  315 

1886                                                                            17  909 

1891 

54  igo 

1887                                      .                                      36  907 

1892 

28  298 

1888                                                                            36  818 

1889                                                                            39  563 

Total 

254  068 

I 

REC  APITULA  TION. 


Years. 

Skins. 

Drv  skins  sold  in  London  

1885-1891 

8  604 

Safted  skins  dressed  and  dved  in  London  but  not  sold  there 

1885  1889 

39  290 

Salted  skins  dressed  and  dved  in  United  States,  estimated 

1885  1889 

30  000 

Salted  skins  sold  in  London  . 

1885-1892 

254  068 

Grand  total  .  .  . 

331.  962 

EXHIBIT  E. 
Salted  Lobos  Island  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London. 


Year. 

Skins. 

! 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

1873  ..... 

6,956 

1881  .    .     

13  569 

1889 

8  755 

1874 

8  509 

1882 

13  200 

1890 

18  541 

1875  

8  179 

1883 

12  861 

1891 

15  834 

1876  

11,353 

1884  

16  258 

1892o 

4  800 

1877 

13  066 

1885 

10  953 

1878  

12,301 

1886 

13  667 

Total 

247  777 

1879 

12  295 

1887 

11  068 

1880  .  .  . 

14  865 

1888 

20  747 

a  To  date. 


Additional  deposition  of  Alfred  Fraser,  member  of  the  firm  of  G.  M. 
Lampson  &  Co.,  furriers,  London. 

STATE  OF  NEW  YORK, 

City  and  County  of  New  YbrA%  ss: 

Alfred  Fraser,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
C.  M.  Lainpson  &  Co.,  of  London,  and  the  person  described  in  and  who 
verified  an  affidavit  on  the  1st  day  of  April,  1892,  relating  to  the  fur- 
seal  industry.  The  tables  hereto  annexed,  marked  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  and 
F,  have  been  prepared  by  me  from  the  printed  catalogues  of  public  auc- 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 13 


194 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


tion  sales  in  London  of  fur  seal  skins,  and  also  from  my  private  memo- 
randa, and  from  knowledge  and  information  of  the  fur-seal  industry,  I 
believe  them  to  be  correct  in  every  particular.  Said  tables  state  all  of 
the  salted  fur-seal  skins  of  the  Alaska,  Copper,  Northwest  coast,  and 
Lobos  catches,  which,  according  to  the  said  catalogues  and  memoranda, 
were  sold  at  public  auction  in  London  between  the  years  1868  and  1891, 
together  with  the  average  price  per  skin  obtained  during  each  of  said 
years  for  the  aforesaid  skins. 

ALFRED  FRASER. 


EXHIBIT  A. 

Salted  Alaska  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  from  1870  to  1891. 


Tear.        Skins. 


Year.      :    Skins. 


Year. 


1870  .  . 

9,965 

1875  .  .  . 

.   99,  634 

1880 

1871.  ... 

!  100,896 

1876  .  .  . 

.   90,  267 

1881 

1872  .... 

96,  283 

1877  .  .  . 

.:  75,410 

lj  1882 

1873  .... 

101,  248 

1878  .  .  . 

.1  99,911 

|i  1883 

1874.  ... 

90,  150 

1879  .  .  . 

.  100.036 

I!1884 

Skins. 


100.  161 
99.  921 

100. 100 
75,914 
99,  887 


Year.         Skius.          Year.         Skins. 


1885 1  99,719 

1886 !  99,910 

1887 99,940 

1888 1  100,000 

1889 100,000 


189Q 

90 

1891 


C  20,  994 

\    4,158 

13,473 


Total..1  1,877.977 


EXHIBIT  B. 

Salted  Copper  Island  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  in  the  years  1870  to  1892. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year.     {    Skins. 

Year.  . 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins.         Year.         Skins. 

1870 

12,030    ;  1875....  I    34,479 

I 
1  1880 

38,  885 

i  1885  ... 

48,929      1890  1      95,486 

1871 

9,522      1876.... 

33,  298 

1881 

45,209  |!  1886  

41,752      1891  1       17,025 

1872 

7,182 

!  1877  .... 

25.  380 

1882 

39,111    j  1887  

54,584      1892  30.678 

1873 

21,  614 

|  1878.... 

19,  000 

i   1883 

36,500      1888  

46,333 

1874 

30,  349 

1879  .... 

28,  211 

1  1884 

1 

-• 

26,675      1889  

|l 

47,416          Total..      789,648 

1                     1 

EXHIBIT  C. 

Salted  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  prior  to  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins.         Year. 

Skins. 

1872  
1873 

1,029 

1875  
1876 

1,646 
2  042 

1878  
1879 

264 
12  212 

1881  
1882 

9,  997      1884  .  .  . 
11  717 

9,242 

1874  

4,949 

1877  

1880  

8,  939 

,  1883  

I 

2,319          Total.. 

64,  366 

EXHIBIT  D. 

Salted  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  after  commencement  of  pelagic  sealing 

in  Bering  Sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

i 

Skins. 

1885  

2,078 

1890     

38,  315 

1886 

17  909 

1891                                   

54,  180 

1887        

36  907 

1892a         

28,  298 

1888 

36  818 

1889        .  .. 

39  563 

Total  

254,068 

a  To  March  25. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


195 


EXHIBIT  E. 

Salted  Lobos  Island  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skina. 

Year. 

Skins. 

1873 

6  .V.H; 

1881 

13  569 

1889  

8,755 

1874 

8*  509 

1882 

13,  200 

1890  

18,541 

1875 

8  179 

1883    

12,  801 

1891  

15,834 

1876 

11  353 

1884 

10,258 

1892  a      

4,800 

1877 

13*  066 

1885            .           

10,  953 

1878 

12  301 

1886 

13  667 

Total  

247,  777 

1879                 

12,295 

1887  

11,  068 

1880 

14  865 

1888           

20,  747 

a  To  date. 

EXHIBIT  F. 


Salted  Alaska  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  in  the  years  1868-1871  taken  prior  to  the 
leasing  of  the  Pribilof  Islands. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

1868                              

28,  220 

1871  

20,111 

1869                 

121,  820 

1870 

110  511 

Total  

280,  662 

The  following  table,  prepared  by  Hutchinson,  Kohl,  Philipeus  &  Co., 
of  San  Francisco,  lessees  of  the  right  to  take  fur  seals  upon  the  Com- 
mander and  Robben  islands,  shows  the  number  of  seal  skins  secured 
annually  from  these  respective  islands  from  1871  to  1891 : 


Year. 

Com- 
mander 
Islands. 

Robben 
Island. 

Total. 

Year. 

Com- 
mander 
Islands. 

Robben 
Island. 

Total 

1871                      

3  614 

3  614  | 

1883          

26,  650 

2  049 

28,  699 

1872 

29  356 

29  356 

1884 

49  444 

3  819 

53  263 

1873 

27*  710 

2  694 

30  404 

1885 

41  737 

1,838 

43  575 

1874 

28  886 

2,414 

31  300 

1886                    .... 

54,591 

54,  591 

1875     

33,  152 

3,127 

36,  279 

1887  

46,347 

46,  347 

1876 

25  432 

1  528 

26  960 

1888 

47  362 

47  362 

1877         

18  584 

2  949 

21  533 

1889 

52,  859 

52,  859 

1878 

28  198 

3  142 

31  340 

1890 

53  780 

53  780 

1879 

38,  749 

4  002 

42  750 

1891 

5  800 

5  800 

1880 

45  174 

3  330 

48  504 

1881 

39  314 

4  207 

43  521 

Total 

776  467 

1882 

40  514 

4  106 

44  620 

Table  of  annual  seal-skin  supply  compiled  from  table  of  London  trade  sales  as  given  by 

Emil  Teichmann. 


Year. 

Lobos 
Island. 

Cape 
Horn. 

Northwest 
catch. 

Alaska 
catch. 

"Sr 

Total. 

1870  

684 

9  965 

10  849 

1871  

12  495 

100  896 

113  391 

1872 

16  303 

96  283 

7  182 

119  768 

1873  

6  956 

981 

10l'  248 

21  614 

130  749 

1874 

8  507 

7  843 

90  150 

30  349 

136  851 

1875  

8  179 

3  575 

99  634 

34  497 

145  867 

1876  

11,353 

6  306 

4  097 

90*  267 

33  298 

145  321 

1877 

13  066 

7  631 

1  945 

75  410 

95  380 

123  432 

1878  

12,  301 

18  227 

3  607 

99  911 

19  000 

143  046 

1879 

12  295 

12  180 

15  527 

100  036 

28  211 

168  249 

1880  

14  386 

17  562 

13  501 

100  161 

38  885 

184  945 

1881  

13  569 

13  164 

16  573 

9  994 

45  209 

188  436 

1882 

13  200 

11  711 

23  207 

100  100 

39  111 

187  329 

1883  

12  861 

4*655 

9  544 

75  914 

36  500 

139  474 

1884 

16  258 

6  743 

20  142 

99  887 

26  657 

169  705 

1885  . 

10  953 

3  404 

20  265 

99  719 

48  929 

183  270 

1886  

13,  667 

909 

33,975 

99*910 

41  752 

190  213 

1887  

11,068 

2,762 

43,339 

99  940 

54  584 

211,693 

1888  

20  747 

4  403 

40  000 

100  ooo 

46  333 

211  483 

1889  

8,755 

3,021 

41  808 

100  000 

47  416 

201  000 

196 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Table  ofpercentayes  of  annual  seal-skin  supply  compiled  from  table  of  London  trade  sale» 
as  given  by  Emil  Teiclunann. 


Year. 

Lobos 
Island. 

Cape 
Horn. 

Northwest 
catch. 

Alaska 
catch. 

Copper 
catch. 

Total. 

1870         

0.  0620 

0  9380 

1  0000 

1871 

110 

890 

1  0000 

1872 

.136 

8047 

0  051 

1  0000 

1873        

.  1362 

.7743 

.059 

1.0000 

1874 

0  0532 

0072 

6830 

1653 

1  0000 

1875                 

0560 

.  0246 

.  6204 

.2364 

1.0000 

1876 

0782 

0  0440 

0282 

6113 

2143 

1  0000 

1877 

.  1054 

.0618 

.0158 

.698 

.2578 

1.  0000 

1878       

.  0831 

.0575 

.00251 

.5944 

.  1363 

1.0000 

1879 

0730 

.  0722 

.0927 

.813 

.1677 

1.  0000 

1880       .     

.  0804 

.  0946 

.  0730 

.5417 

.2103 

1.0000 

1881 

0720 

.0097 

.0825 

.5307 

.2451 

1.0000 

1882                 

.  0703 

.0624 

.1233 

.5343 

.2097 

1.0000 

1883 

09<;>3 

0334 

.0685 

.5442 

.2616 

1  0000 

1884 

.  0950 

.  0332 

.1187 

.5821 

.1631 

1.  0000 

1885       

.5540 

.0196 

.113 

.5447 

.  2684 

1.0000 

1886 

0718 

.  0047 

.1795 

.  5307 

.2143 

1.0000 

1887              

.0521 

.0133 

.2047 

.  4721 

.  2578 

1.0000 

1888 

0981 

.0207 

.  1894 

.4728 

.2190 

1.0000 

1889 

.0435 

.0156 

.2075 

.4975 

.2359 

1.0000 

CRUISE   OF   THE   LOUIS   OLSEN   IN    THE   BERING   SEA. 

BY  A.  B.  ALEXANDER. 

On  the  25th  of  May,  at  Seattle,  I  met  Capt.  E.  P.  Miner,  master  of 
the  American  sealing  schooner  Harry  Dennis,  who,  on  the  same  day, 
had  arrived  from  Japan,  his  vessel  having  been  wrecked  on  that  coast. 
At  the  time  of  meeting  him  he  was  endeavoring  to  charter  another 
vessel,  and  hoped  to  be  in  the  Bering  Sea  by  the  1st  of  August.  Inform- 
ing him  that  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Fish  and  Fisheries 
was  anxious  that  I  should  make  a  cruise  with  him  should  he  succeed 
in  getting  a  suitable  vessel,  he  freely  consented,  and  informed  me  that 
if  he  found  out  in  time  he  would  let  me  know  by  mail. 

On  the  morning  of  the  28th  I  sailed  in  the  City  of  Topeka  for  Sitka, 
and  from  there  took  passage  in  the  Crescent  City  for  Unalaska.  Soon 
after  arriving  there  I  joined  the  Albatross,  and  remained  by  her  until 
the  evening  of  the  29th  of  July,  when  I  joined  the  sealing  schooner 
Louis  Olsen,  of  Astoria,  Oreg.,  Captain  Guillains,  master,  who  did  not 
for  a  moment  hesitate  about  giving  me  a  passage.  My  reason  for 
joining  the  Olsen  was  on  account  of  not  having  heard  from  Captain 
Miner  as  to  whether  he  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  vessel;  I  was 
also  informed  by  several  sealing  captains  that  he  did  not  get  a  vessel, 
and  in  consequence  would  not  be  in  the  sea.  The  time  having  arrived 
when  pelagic  sealing  was  about  to  commence,  I  was  glad  to  accept,  as 
I  thought,  the  only  opportunity  which  would  be  offered  for  the  season. 

The  next  day,  in  latitude  54°  38'  north,  longitude  167°  04'  west,  we 
saw  our  first  seals,  20  in  number,  12  of  which  were  "  sleepers."  Seals 
when  sleeping  are  by  sealers  always  called  by  the  above  name.  In  the 
afternoon  we  saw  6  seals  about  half  a  mile  from  the  vessel  playing  in 
a  bunch  of  seaweed.  The  sea  at  the  time  was  perfectly  smooth  with  a 
light  air  stirring.  Two  hunters  and  myself  started  out  in  a  boat  to 
watch  them  and  see  how  near  we  could  approach  without  disturbing 
them.  We  soon  learned  that  they  were  unusually  tame,  as  we  approached 
near  enough  to  touch  one  with  a  spear  pole  which  was  in  the  boat.  They 
showed  little  signs  of  fear,  notwithstanding  that  we  were  within  30  feet 
of  them  for  fully  five  minutes.  Diving  under  the  seaweed  and  sud- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  197 

deiily  thrusting  their  heads  up  through  it  seemed  to  afford  them  great 
pleasure.  Rolling  over  and  over  in  the  seaweed,  their  flippers  becom 
ing  tangled  in  it,  was  also  a  pleasant  enjoyment.  They  paid  but  little 
attention  to  us  and  seemed  almost  indifferent  as  to  how  near  we 
approached  so  long  as  we  did  so  quietly.  This  caused  the  hunters  to 
exclaim  several  times,  "If  we  only  had  a  gun  we  could  kill  them  all." 
Under  the  circumstances  it  was  but  natural  that  a  gun  should  be  the 
uppermost  thought  in  their  minds. 

Early  in  the  spring,  both  on  the  Northwest  coast  and  off  the  coast 
of  Japan,  seals  are  sometimes  found  which  evince  little  signs  of  fear, 
but  after  one  day's  shooting  on  the  ground  they  become  very  wild  and 
mistrustful,  and,  like  a  crow  and  some  laud  animals,  seem  to  scent  a  gun 
in  the  air.  On  this  particular  occasion  a  kodak  camera  would  have 
given  good  results — it  was  one  opportunity  of  a  thousand. 

The  following  day,  31st,  seals  were  plentiful.  The  wind  being  light 
during  the  previous  night,  our  position  had  changed  but  little. 

On  August  1,  at  a  very  early  hour,  the  spears  were  brought  forth  and 
the  seal  on  them  broken.  While  this  was  going  on  many  remarks  were 
made  in  regard  to  the  first  day's  trial.  Some  of  the  hunters  were  already 
discouraged  and  were  confident  that  they  were  only  wasting  time  by 
attempting  to  use  spears;  the  thought  of  being  obliged  to  adopt  the 
primitive  weapon  of  the  Si  wash  was  indeed  humiliating  to  them.  A 
few  on  board  felt  more  hopeful  and  were  willing  to  give  the  spear  a  fair 
trial.  Ever  since  leaving  Unalaska  the  hunters  had  been  practicing  at 
throwing  the  spear  pole.  Every  piece  of  floating  seaweed  or  other 
object  which  came  within  range  had  been  a  target.  On  several  occa- 
sions the  boats  had  been  lowered  and  a  supply  of  chips  and  small 
pieces  of  wood  taken  along.  These  were  thrown  ahead  of  the  boat  as 
targets  to  throw  at.  It  was  soon  found  that  an  object  that  could  be 
easily  hit  at  a  distance  of  25  or  30  feet  from  the  vessel  was  not  so  easily 
reached  from  a  boat,  as  the  smallest  wave  would  cause  her  to  move  just 
enough  to  cause  the  pole  to  go  wide  of  its  mark.  A  day's  practice 
throwing  from  the  boats  had  the  effect  of  teaching  the  hunters  the 
various  ways  of  holding  the  spear  to  make  more  sure  of  its  hitting  the 
mark  under  the  many  conditions  of  sea  and  wind.  All  this  time  spear 
throwing  had  been  carried  on  with  lifeless  objects  for  a  mark.  The 
opportunity  was  about  to  present  itself  to  exhibit  skill  in  throwing  at 
something  that  if  missed  the  first  time  would  not  be  likely  to  remain 
stationary  long  enough  to  give  the  marksman  another  trial.  A  cool 
head  and  steady  nerves  would  be  the  special  requirements  to  insure  a 
successful  day's  hunt  should  seals  be  plentiful. 

The  1st  day  of  August  did  not  prove  a  success,  so  far  as  sealing  was 
concerned,  the  weather  being  too  foggy  to  send  out  the  boats.  Scat- 
tering seals  were  observed  all  day,  but  they  were  all  "  travelers;"  that 
is,  they  were  all  moving  in  various  directions.  Our  noon  position  was 
latitude  56°  11'  north,  longitude  172°  OF  west.  The  next  day  seals 
were  less  numerous.  None  were  observed  in  the  forenoon ;  in  the  after- 
noon 12  were  seen;  all  but  one  were  traveling  to  the  westward.  This 
individual  was  asleep;  a  boat  was  quickly  lowered  and  the  hunter  on 
watch  was  rowed  toward  it.  Before  the  boat  had  covered  half  the  dis- 


were  not  so  plentiful  as  they  were  farther  south.  In  the  afternoon  we 
hove  to  and  caught  two  cod  in  65  fathoms  of  water.  No  more  seal  life 
was  observed  until  the  after  noon  of  the  following  day,  when  two  sleep- 


198  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

ing  seals  wei'e  sighted,  latitude  57°  50'  north,  longitude  173°  48'  west. 
Five  boats  were  sent  out.  They  returned  at  5  p.  m.,  having  taken 
no  seals,  although  8  had  been  seen,  but  they  were  all  "  travelers." 
Heavy  fog  and  strong  indications  of  the  wind  breezing  up  fresh  caused 
the  boats  to  return  earlier  than  they  otherwise  would.  In  the  evening,, 
the  vessel  being  hove  to,  several  seals  came  close  alongside.  They 
seemed  to  be  very  curious  to  know  what  we  were.  All  the  spears  on 
board  were  repeatedly  thrown  at  them,  but  they  had  the  good  sense  to 
keep  just  out  of  range.  Whistling  had  the  effect  of  enticing  them  close 
aboard,  but  the  sight  of  a  spear  or  two  being  aimed  at  them  would  cause 
them,  without  any  apparent  effort,  to  increase  their  distance  by  20  or 
more  feet. 

The  first  seal  captured  by  the  Ohen  was  on  August  4,  in  latitude  57° 
50'  north,  longitude  173°  48'  west,  the  same  position  recorded  on  the 
previous  day.  At  8.45  a.  m.  sail  was  made,  and  at  10.45  the  boats  were 
lowered,  two  "sleepers"  having  been  seen.  The  weather  being  foggy 
the  boats  were  soon  lost  to  sight.  The  vessel  was  hove  to,  it  being 
much  easier  for  the  boats  to  keep  the  bearing  of  the  vessel  than  for 
the  vessel  to  keep  track  of  the  boats. 

As  soon  as  the  boats  had  left  a  hand  line  was  put  over  in  70  fathoms 
of  water.  An  hour's  fishing  resulted  in  18  cod.  Their  average  weight, 
as  near  as  could  be  judged,  was  12  pounds;  the  largest  weighed  not  far 
from  30  pounds.  All  but  two  of  the  cod  were  in  a  healthy  condition. 
These  two  had  sores  on  their  backs  about  the  size  of  a  half  dollar,  which 
had  eaten  nearly  to  the  backbone.  This  instance  is  mentioned  here  on 
account  of  the  part  of  the  fish  where  the  sores  were.  In  both  cases 
they  were  situated  near  the  neck,  directly  over  the  vertebra;  they  were 
as  round  and  smooth  as  if  cut  with  a  knife. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  fog  did  not  lift  during  the  day,  the  boats 
remained  out  until  9  p.  m.  The  result  of  the  day's  hunt  was  12  seals — 
4  males  and  8  females.  One  of  the  seals  had  previously  been  speared 
in  one  of  its  flippers,  as  it  was  nearly  severed  from  its  body,  showing 
that  the  seal  must  have  had  a  hard  struggle  to  free  itself.  The  largest 
number  of  seals  caught  for  this  first  day's  successful  hunt  was  taken 
by  two  boats,  they  bringing  in  five  each;  two  other  boats  captured  one 
each,  and  the  remaining  two  boats  brought  in  nothing.  The  hunters 
in  these  boats,  on  learning  that  12  seals  had  been  captured,  indulged  in 
strong  language  at  their  nonsuccess. 

About  50  seals  had  been  observed  from  the  boats,  the  most  of  which 
were  awake.  Only  an  occasional  individual  had  been  seen  during  the 
day  from  the  vessel,  the  fog  being  too  dense  to  see  more  than  an  eighth 
of  a  mile. 

In  no  single  instance  was  the  first  seal  speared  at  captured  ;  it  was 
only  after  repeated  attempts  by  each  hunter  that  one  was  hit.  The 
excitement  caused  by  the  desire  on  the  part  of  each  to  be  the  first 
to  capture  a  seal,  combined  with  the  inexperience  of  throwing  the 
primitive  weapon,  was  no  doubt  the  chief  cause  of  the  poor  results. 
The  eight  females  captured  were  all  nursing  seals;  but  little  food  was 
found  in  their  stomachs,  and  that  was  too  much  digested  to  tell  what 
it  consisted  of;  it  was,  however,  placed  in  alcohol. 

In  the  evening,  after  the  seals  had  been  skinned  and  everything  made 
snug  for  the  night,  each  hunter  told  his  experience  during  the  day, 
which,  as  may  be  supposed,  was  more  entertaining  than  instructive. 

On  the  5th  the  wind  and  weather  were  not  suitable  for  sealing;  a 
very  fresh  southeast  wind  prevailed,  and  in  order  to  keep  our  present 
position  the  vessel  was  hove  to  under  easy  sail.  A  large  number  of 


- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  199 


Is  was  noticed;  they  were  frequently  seen  playing  about,  sometimes 
on  the  crest  of  a  wave,  and  then  in  the  hollow  of  a  sea.  They  seem- 
ingly had  no  fixed  course,  but  would  swim  in  one  direction  a  half  a 
mile  or  so,  return  and  go  in  an  opposite  way.  It  is  more  than  likely, 
had  the  wind  been  blowing  a  strong  gale,  they  would  all  have  been 
bound  in  one  direction.  The  wind  continued  fresh,  with  a  rough,  choppy 
sea,  until  the  following  noon,  when  the  fog  which  had  come  in  during 
the  night  lifted  and  the  wind  suddenly  subsided  into  a  calm.  The  boats 
were  put  in  readiness  and  sent  out  for  an  afternoon's  hunt.  Consider- 
ing the  state  of  the  sea  and  the  time  of  starting,  a  fair  afternoon's  work 
was  done,  19  seals  being  landed  on  deck  by  8.30  p.  m.  Fifteen  of  the 
number  were  cows  and  4  males.  Only  6  had  food  in  their  stomachs. 
Every  hunter  reported  seals  numerous,  about  half  of  the  number  being 
asleep.  They  slept  in  ounchesof  6  and  8,  and  when  aroused  from  their 
slumber  were  very  tame,  but  owing  to  the  inexperience  of  the  hunters 
with  spears  in  a  comparatively  rough  sea,  the  successful  throws  were  few 
and  far  between.  Had  the  hunters  been  provided  with  shotguns  instead 
of  spears,  it  is  pretty  safe  to  say  that  a  hundred  or  more  seals  would  have 
been  nearer  the  day's  catch.  To  be  compelled  to  see  seals  escape  that 
could  easily  have  been  killed  with  a  shotgun  brought  forth  from  both 
hunters  and  boat  crews  loud  and  imprecatory  language  upon  the  heads 
of  all  those  who  were  instrumental  in  prohibiting  the  use  of  firearms  in 
the  Bering  Sea.  These  men  had  not  been  used  to  seeing  their  prey  get 
away  so  easily,  and  to  them  the  sight  was  more  than  exasperating. 
During  the  absence  of  the  boats  a  large  number  of  traveling  seals  had 
been  seen  from  the  vessel  and  also  an  occasional  "  sleeper."  One  of  the 
latter  was  observed  close  aboard  a  little  on  our  lee.  It  evidently  was 
sleeping  soundly,  for  neither  the  slatting  of  the  sails  nor  the  blowing 
of  the  fog  horn  had  the  effect  of  awaking  it,  and  it  was  only  when  the 
scent  of  the  vessel  reached  its  nostrils  that  it  showed  signs  of  life. 
After  being  fully  aroused  it  did  not  exhibit  any  great  signs  of  alarm, 
but  played  about  not  far  off  for  some  time.  It  seldom  happens  that  a 
seal  will  show  such  indifference  to  its  surroundings  as  this  one.  The 
captain  and  mate  said  they  had  never  in  all  their  experience  seen  a  seal 
so  tame.  The  general  opinion  on  board  was  that  it  was  due  to  there 
being  no  firearms  used  or  hunting. allowed  in  the  Bering  Sea  for  the 
past  few  years  that  caused  the  seals  thus  far  observed  to  show  so  little 
fear  of  man. 

The  highest  catch  for  any  one  single  day  was  taken  on  the  7th.  The 
day  commenced  with  a  gentle  breeze  from  the  south,  and  a  smooth  sea. 
A  light  fog  hung  low  over  the  water  which  prevented  the  boats  from 
being  seen  more  than  20  yards.  At  8  a.  m.  the  last  boat  shoved  off,  and 
they  were  not  seen  again  until  evening.  Noon  position:  Latitude,  58° 
30'  north;  longitude,  173°  56' west.  In  the  forenoon  hand-line  fishing 
was  carried  on.  The  depth  of  water  here  was  60  fathoms.  Six  good- 
sized  cod  were  caught  in  quick  succession;  2  males  and  4  females. 
Their  stomachs  were  well  filled  with  food.  In  the  stomach  of  a  large 
female  was  found  an  octopus ;  it  had  been  recently  swallowed,  as  its  skin 
showed  no  discoloration.  Cod  were  abundant;  we  could  have  filled  the 
decks  in  a  day's  fishing  with  a  single  line.  The  abundance  of  cod  may 
have  been  the  cause  of  seals  being  plentiful  in  this  region.  In  the 
evening  the  boats  all  returned  nearly  at  the  same  time,  bringing  in  34 
seals,  30  of  which  were  females.  Twenty-four  of  the  number  had  food 
in  their  stomachs.  The  material,  however,  was  finely  masticated,  and 
hard  to  identify,  but  a  portion  of  it  looked  very  much  like  the  flesh  of 
cod.  If  a  portion  of  the  food  was  cod,  the  question  arises,  did  the  seals 


200  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

dive  to  the  bottom  in  GO  fathoms  of  water  and  bring  their  prey  to  the 
surface?  As  a  rule  cod  are  found  very  close  to  the  bottom,  especially  in 
deep  water;  in  shallow  places  they  are  sometimes  found  nearer  the  sur- 
face. It  is  not  probable  that  seals  in  this  region  found  an  abundance 
of  cod  or  even  scattering  ones  near  the  surface.  Just  how  deep  a  seal 
can  dive  and  secure  food  is  a  mooted  question.  Mr.  Henry  Elliott  gives 
them  credit  of  being  able  to  dive  to  profound  depths.  The  writer  has 
conversed  with  a  good  many  sealers  on  the  subject,  but  has  never  been 
able  to  gather  any  reliable  information.  Sealers  as  a  rule  are  not  a  very 
observing  class  of  men,  for  the  reason  that  their  interest  is  all  centered 
in  the  commercial  side  of  the  question,  and  think  little  of  the  habits  or 
other  peculiarities  of  seal  life.  The  most  satisfactory  evidence  the  writer 
ever  had  that  seals  are  deep  divers  was  two  years  ago  on  the  Fairweatlier 
Ground,  a  large  bank  off  the  coast  of  Alaska,  while  on  a  cruise  in  the 
revenue-cutter  Cor  win.  We  were  about  to  return  to  the  ship  at  the  end 
of  a  successful  afternoon's  hunt,  when  a  large  bull  suddenly  came  up 
close  to  our  canoe,  not  over  30  feet  away,  with  a  very  large  red  rockfish 
in  its  mouth,  which  it  immediately  proceeded  to  devour.  The  fish  was 
alive  and  could  be  plainly  seen  struggling  in  the  seal's  mouth.  Our 
position  at  the  time  was  some  75  or  80  miles  offshore  from  Yakutat 
Bay.  We  had  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  depth  of  the  water,  but  it 
could  not  have  been  much  less  than  100  fathoms.  Bed  rocktish  is  also 
a  species  that  generally  swims  close  to  the  bottom,  although  like  cod  it 
is  possible  that  they  sometimes  feed  near  the  surface.  The  writer  does 
not  maintain  that  seals  can  go  to  the  bottom  in  100  fathoms  of  water, 
but  thinks  they  can  dive  much  deeper  than  is  generally  supposed. 

All  the  hunters  on  this  day  reported  seals  plentiful,  but  could  find 
very  few  asleep.  Had  the  sun  been  shining  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the 
majority  of  those  with  food  in  their  stomachs  would  have  slept  during 
a  greater  part  of  the  day,  for,  as  a  rule,  seals  with  full  stomachs  sleep 
when  the  sun  is  out,  the  air  warm,  and  the  sea  smooth  or  comparatively 
so.  Their  time  of  sleeping,  however,  is  not  always  when  conditions  are 
favorable,  for  after  a  gale  of  long  duration  they  are  frequently  seen 
asleep  when  the  air  is  cold  and  the  sea  uncommonly  high.  At  such 
times  seals  are  completely  exhausted.  It  is  not  an  infrequent  sight 
during  the  winter  and  spring  mouths,  at  the  end  of  a  long  and  heavy 
gale,  to  see  seals  sleeping  soundly  in  a  snowstorm,  with  that  por- 
tion of  the  body  out  of  the  water  covered  with  snow.  In  consequence 
of  the  seals  on  this  day  being  restless,  a  great  many  of  the  34  taken 
were  what  is  known  to  sealers  as  "tinners,'7  that  is.  seals  about  half 
asleep,  rolling  about  and  scratching  themselves.  Sometimes  " tinners" 
are  hard  to  approach,  and  at  other  times  very  easy.  A  restless  one  will 
try  very  hard  to  take  a  nap,  but  just  as  he  gets  comfortably  fixed  some- 
thing disturbs  him;  holding  its  head  up  he  will  take  a  look  all  around, 
as  if  danger  was  scented  in  the  air.  These  are  hard  to  capture  with 
spears. 

Indians  seldom  pay  any  attention  to  moving  seals  when  hunting  with 
spears;  they  think  it  a  waste  of  time.  White  hunters,  when  they  can 
find  no  sleeping  seals,  frequently  give  chase  to  u  tinners  "  and  "  travel- 
ers," and  in  many  cases  are  rewarded  for  their  trouble.  The  hunters 
on  the  Olsen  soon  found  that  few  seals  would  be  taken  on  certain  days 
if  they  only  selected  sleeping  oues.  Many  haphazard  throws  were 
made  at  swimming  and  finning  seals,  the  majority  of  which  were  fail- 
ures, but  enough  good  shots  were  made  to  make  the  experiment  a  pay- 
ing one. 

For  several  days  seals  had  been  observed  chasing  some  kind  of  fish, 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  201 

ami  during  this  last  day's  hunt  they  were  quite  plentiful.  Only  a  single 
individual  would  be  seen;  it  would  dart  first  in  one  direction  and  then 
in  another,  and  occasionally  would  make  a  desperate  leap  out  of  water. 
Presently  a  seal  would  be  noticed  not  far  off  swimming  as  rapidly  and 
in  as  many  different  directions  as  the  fish.  On  the  day  in  q  uestion,  two 
seals  were  speared,  just  as  they  came  to  the  surface,  each  with  one  of 
these  fish  in  its  mouth.  The  seals  did  not  relinquish  their  hold  when 
speared,  but  kept  a  firm  grip  until  knocked  on  the  head.  The  speci- 
mens proved  to  be  Alaskan  pollock.  In  both  cases  the  specimens  of 
fish  secured  were  brought  up  by  large  males;  one  was  somewhere 
between  8  and  10  years  of  age. 

The  two  following  days,  8th  and  9th,  the  weather  was  too  boisterous 
for  sealing;  wind  southeast  and  every  indication  of  a  gale.  We  lay  to 
under  the  foresail  in  order  to  keep  as  near  our  present  position  as  pos- 
sible. A  heavy  sea  set  in  from  the  westward,  but  the  wind  did  not 
increase  above  a  strong  breeze.  Scattering  seals  were  about  each  day, 
all  traveling  to  the  westward.  From  observation  we  learned  that  dur- 
ing stormy  weather  seals  traveled  in  an  opposite  direction  to  the  wind. 
In  a  gale  it  will  be  found  that  seals  are  far  more  numerous  on  the  lee 
side  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  than  to  the  windward  of  them.  When  the 
wind  is  heavy  and  the  sea  rough  seals  as  a  rule  travel  from  the  seal 
islands  directly  to  leeward  or  nearly  so.  Just  how  much  the  wind 
changes  the  course  of  the  main  body  of  seals  would  be  hard  to  say, 
but  so  far  as  our  investigations  extended,  in  connection  with  the  travel- 
ing herd  which  came  under  our  notice,  we  are  inclined  to  think  that 
seals  within  100  miles  of  the  seal  islands,  bound  to  the  feeding  grounds, 
will  in  most  cases  seek  the  grounds  to  the  leeward  of  the  group.  Seals 
in  a  gale  take  every  advantage  of  wind  and  sea.  It  is  necessary  that 
they  should,  for  there  is  evidently  a  limit  to  their  endurance. 

On  the  morning  of  the  10th  light  winds  prevailed,  but  a  choppy  sea, 
combined  with  a  long  rolling  swell  from  the  west-southwest,  rendered 
it  unfit  for  sealing,  although  scattering  seals  had  been  noticed.  Two 
days  of  idleness  had  made  everybody  on  board  anxious  to  get  out  in 
the  boats.  In  the  afternoon  the  wind  fell  to  a  calm,  and  the  boats  were 
put  over  in  latitude  58°  27'  north,  longitude  172°  46'  west,  and  remained 
out  until  evening,  bringing  in  only  three  seals.  Very  few  were  seen 
from  the  boats,  although  they  covered  considerable  ground  during  the 
day.  Seals  were  equally  scarce  in  the  vicinity  of  the  vessel;  only  six 
were  observed.  One  of  these,  more  bold  than  the  rest,  kept  circling 
around  the  vessel,  coming  nearer  each  time.  Finding  that  it  was  inclined 
to  be  inquisitive,  it  was  encouraged  to  make  further  investigations  as 
to  what  we  were  by  continual  whistling  by  those  on  board.  It  was 
finally  enticed  alongside  and  captured,  the  spear  passing  through  one 
of  its  hind  flippers.  A  series  of  photographs  showing  all  the  different 
positions  the  seal  was  in  during  its  struggle  for  liberty  would  have  been 
valuable.  It  fought  bravely  for  life  while  in  the  water,  but  on  being 
hauled  on  board  its  power  was  greatly  lessened.  It  did  not,  however, 
give  up  without  a  desperate  struggle  to  regain  its  liberty.  At  one 
period  of  the  fight  it  drove  everybody  from  the  main  deck,  and  it  was 
only  when  a  noose  was  thrown  over  its  neck  and  its  head  hauled  down 
to  a  ring  bolt  that  terms  of  peace  could  be  made,  which  was  by  knock- 
ing in  on  the  head.  The  catch  of  seals  for  the  day  was  4 — 3  females  and 
1  male;  the  total  catch  to  date  6i) — 13  males  and  56  females. 

The  next  day  (llth)  the  boats  made  an  early  start.  Everything 
looked  favorable  for  a  good  day's  hunt,  the  wind  being  light  and  the 
sea  smooth,  two  things  which  are  almost  indispensable  in  seal  hunting. 


202  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

No  seals  had  been  noticed  during  the  morning,  but  it  does  not  neces- 
sarily follow  that  because  none  are  observed  from  the  vessel  they  are 
not  about,  for  frequently  it  happens  that  good  catches  are  made  when 
not  a  seal  has  been  seen  from  the  vessel.  This  was  not  one  of  those 
exceptional  days;  13  was  the  catch — 3  males  and  10  cows.  Seals  had 
been  comparatively  plentiful,  but  were  not  inclined  to  sleep  and  were 
too  wild  to  approach.  A  piece  of  an  Alaskan  pollock  was  brought  in 
by  one  of  the  hunters,  it  having  been  taken  from  a  seal's  mouth  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  two  others  previously  described.  The  shape  of  an 
Alaskan  pollock  would  indicate  it  to  be  a  fish  that  could  easily  escape 
from  a  seal.  It  may  be,  however,  that  seals  do  not  select  a  single  fish, 
but  give  chase  to  a  body  of  them  after  the  manner  of  whales,  sword- 
fish,  and  sharks,  and  out  of  many  succeed  in  capturing  one  or  more. 
The  reason  for  seals  seen  on  this  day  being  so  wild  could  be  accounted 
for  only  in  one  way,  they  having  had  little  to  eat.  The  stomachs  of 
those  taken  fully  corroborated  this  theory.  A  series  of  trials  were 
made  for  bottom  fish,  but  with  negative  results;  we  seemed  to  be 
drifting  over  barren  ground.  The  noon  position  on  this  day  was  57° 
42'  38"  north  latitude;  172°  52'  west  longitude. 

Our  pleasant  weather  was  about  to  be  broken  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time,  for  on  the  12th  the  day  began  with  a  gale  from  the 
southeast,  accompanied  by  a  heavy  sea.  Lay  hove  to  under  single- 
reefed  foresail  and  trysail.  In  the  afternoon  spoke  with  the  schooner 
Teresa,  of  San  Francisco;  also  saw  the  schooner  Kate,  of  Victoria, 
British  Columbia,  a  short  distance  away.  Seals  frequently  seen  all 
through  the  day.  In  the  early  part  of  the  night  the  wind  increased  to 
a  heavy  gale,  arid  in  the  latter  part  the  wind  decreased  in  force  and 
hauled  to  the  west-southwest.  A  heavy  sea  kept  up  all  day.  In  the 
forenoon  a  vessel  was  sighted  low  on  the  horizon.  An  occasional  seal 
observed;  phalaropes  numerous. 

August  14:  Weather  pleasant,  but  wind  fresh  from  the  westward. 
In  the  evening  boarded  the  schooner  Fawn,  of  Victoria,  British  Colum- 
bia. She  reported  losing  a  boat  and  three  men  on  the  1 1th.  (They 
were  afterwards  picked  up.)  The  Fawn  had  an  Indian  crew  and  had 
taken  20  skins  in  the  sea.  This  news  gave  our  hunters  considerable 
encouragement.  Position,  latitude  57°  37'  north;  longitude  173°  14' 
west. 

August  15:  Pleasant  weather  in  the  early  part  of  the  day,  but  very 
squally  in  the  latter  part;  sea  rough.  Latitude  57°  II'  north;  longi- 
tude 173°  09'  west. 

August  16 :  Variable  weather ;  clear  in  the  morning,  thick  and  squally 
in  the  afternoon;  sea  very  rough.  But  few  seals  seen.  Noon  position, 
latitude  57°  04'  north;  longitude  172°  30'  west. 

August  17:  At  7  a.  m.  made  sail  and  ran  to  the  southward;  wind 
northwest  and  fresh,  gradually  decreasing  to  a  light  breeze  in  after- 
noon. A  heavy  fog  came  in  later  in  the  day.  Position,  latitude  50°  54' 
north;  longitude  172°  45'  west.  Continued  on  our  course  until  8  a.  m. 
the  next  day,  at  which  time  saw  a  seal  "  finning  "  close  by.  A  boat  was 
quickly  manned  and  started  in  pursuit,  but  the  seal  was  on  the  alert 
and  soon  increased  the  distance  between  itself  and  enemy.  Shortly 
after  this  a  "  sleeper "  was  noticed  not  far  off  on  the  weather  bow. 
Another  boat  was  hoisted  out,  which  was  silently  rowed  toward  the 
coveted  prize.  No  attempt  was  made  by  the  hunter  to  throw  the  spear 
until  the  boat  was  within  20  feet  of  it.  It  was  easily  captured.  When 
opened  its  stomach  was  found  to  be  well  filled  with  food,  which  no 
doubt  was  the  cause  of  its  sleeping  so  soundly. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  203 


i,ter  in  the  day  all  the  boats  went  out,  but  returned  at  the  end  of 
three  hours  with  only  one  seal.  The  sea  was  smooth  and  but  little 
wind  stirring,  but  the  air  grew  suddenly  chilly  and  the  sky  very  cloudy, 
which  practically  put  an  end  to  the  chances  of  seals  sleeping  for  the 
day.  On  this  particular  occasion  the  hunters  were  very  much  dis- 
gusted on  account  of  not  having  shotguns.  They  claimed  that  with 
guns  the  day's  catch  at  the  least  calculation  would  have  been  between 
00  and  70  seals,  instead  of  the  small  number  of  two.  On  a  day  like 
this,  when  seals  showed  no  inclination  to  sleep,  shotguns  in  the  hands 
of  skillful  hunters  would  have  done  very  destructive  work  to  the  seal 
herd,  for  experienced  hunters  kill  nearly  if  not  quite  as  many  traveling 
seals  during  the  course  of  a  season  as  sleeping  ones.  In  the  early  his- 
tory of  pelagic  sealing  hunters  sought  sleeping  seals  only,  but  they 
have  learned  the  movements  of  the  seal  so  thoroughly  that  traveling 
and  finning  seals  are  almost  as  desirable  as  sleeping  ones. 

Hand-line  fishing  was  carried  on  from  the  vessel  in  60  fathoms  of 
water.  In  one  hour  10  cod  were  caught,  their  average  weight  being 
about  9  pounds.  It  was  estimated  that  the  largest  would  weigh  30 
pounds,  the  smallest  4  pounds.  In  their  stomachs  were  found  small 
starfish,  prawns,  squid,  medusae,  and  a  quantity  of  decomposed  fish, 
all  of  which  was  saved. 

Unfortunately  this  was  our  last  day's  hunt.  From  this  time  on  we 
had  stormy  weather  and  heavy  gales.  Eighty-four  seals  had  been  taken, 
16  males  and  68  females.  All  the  females  were  nursing  cows,  except 
one,  which  was  a  yearling.  The  last  seal  caught  by  the  Olsen  was  taken 
in  latitude  56°  05'  north,  longitude  172°  17'  west. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  19th  the  weather  was  pleasant,  with  indi- 
cations of  its  being  a  suitable  day  for  sealing,  but  shortly  after  the  wind 
began  to  freshen  from  the  southeast,  gradually  increasing  in  force  and 
hauling  to  the  westward.  Lay  to  under  a  double-reefed  foresail;  heavy 
squalls  at  times.  Xoon  position,  latitude  55°  39'  north,  longitude  172° 
12'  west. 

August  20:  Heavy  gale  from  the  northwest;  very  high  sea  running.. 
Kan  before  the  wind  for  three  hours,  hoping  to  run  out  of  the  heaviest 
part  of  the  gale,  but  no  perceptible  difference  was  felt.  Lay  hove  to 
until  10  p.  m.,  at  which  time  again  kept  off  before  the  wind  and  ran 
until  10  a.  m.  the  next  day.  About  this  time  saw  several  seals,  and 
soon  after  ran  close  to  a  bunch  of  seals,  five  in  number,  all  huddled 
together.  It  was  evident  that  they  were  well  tired  out,  or  else  they 
would  not  have  been  asleep  in  such  weather.  Position,  latitude  54° 
38'  north,  longitude  168°  01'  west.  In  the  afternoon  sighted  several 
vessels. 

On  the  22d  bore  away  for  Uniinak  Pass;  wind  north-northwest  and 
blowing  a  gale,  followed  by  a  heavy  sea.  On  the  morning  of  the  23d 
sighted  the  lower  part  of  Akutan  Island,  the  top  of  it  being  enveloped 
in  a  heavy  fog.  All  through  the  day  seals  were  plentiful,  many  of  which 
were  asleep.  During  the  past  few  days  enough  seals  had  been  seen  to 
cause  a  vessel  to  lay  by  and  wait  until  the  weather  should  moderate. 
The  captain  thought  that  bad  weather  had  set  in  for  the  fall,  and 
accordingly  had  made  up  his  mind  to  go  home.  A  mistake  was  made 
in  this  decision,  for  after  we  had  left  the  sea  and  were  on  our  way  home 
good  catches  were  being  made  by  all  the  vessels  that  remained. 

At  6  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  had  left  Unimak  Pass  behind  us,  and 
were  standing  on  an  east  by  south  course.  The  next  day,  when  about 
75  miles  from  the  pass,  saw  a  sleeping  seal,  and  10  miles  farther  on  saw- 
two  more.  When  about  200  miles  offshore  salmon  were  noticed  Jump- 


204 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


ing.  They  were  so  near  that  we  could  hardly  mistake  the  species. 
Whales  were  also  plentiful. 

For  the  first  two  or  three  days  after  leaving  the  sea  the  weather  was 
pleasant,  but  during  the  greater  part  of  the  voyage  home  heavy  gales 
from  the  westward  prevailed,  which  made  the  captain  all  the  more  con- 
fident that  no  mistake  had  been  made  by  leaving  so  early. 

On  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  September  we  arrived  at  Victoria,  hav- 
ing been  twelve  days  on  the  voyage  home. 

The  writer  was  very  kindly  treated  by  the  captain,  officers,  and  crew 
of  the  Olseu,  every  effort  being  made  by  them  to  lend  assistance  and 
collect  such  material  as  was  desired.  Had  the  Olseu  been  among  seals 
under  favorable  circumstances,  as  many  vessels  were,  the  writer  could, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  kindly  disposed  crew,  have  gathered  consid- 
erable material;  but  we  were  one  of  the  unfortunate  ones.  It  was 
subsequently  learned  that  during  the  time  we  were  having  exceedingly 
stormy  weather — often  hove  to  in  a  gale — many  vessels  of  the  fleet  that 
were  several  degrees  farther  south  were  having  pleasant  weather  and 
getting  good  catches  every  day. 

Seals  taken  in  the  Bering  Sea  by  the  schooner  Louis  Olsen,  1S94. 


Date. 

Position. 

Number. 

Male. 

Female. 

North  lati- 
tude. 

West  longi- 
tude. 

Aug.    4... 

i       o       /         // 
57    50    00 

O         /         " 

173     48     00 
173    56    00 
173    56    00 
172    46    00 
172    52    00 
172     17    00 

12 
19 
34 
4 
13 
2 

4 
4 
4 

3 

8 
15 
30 
3 
10 
2 

g    6 

58    30    00 

7      

58    30    00 

10  

58    27    00 

11 

1      57    42    38 

18  

|       56    03    00 

Total  

...1  

84                16 

68 

j 

[Statistics  compiled  by  H.  H.  Mclntyre,  1889.] 

Seal  skins  landed  at  Victoria  from  Bering  Sea,  as  shown  by  the   Victoria  cnslom-house 

records. 


Schooner. 

1881. 

1882. 

1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

1886. 

1887.? 

1888. 

1889. 

San  Diego  (American)           .             ... 

193 

327 

908 

980 

1  726 

1  187 



1,700 

Mary  Ellen  (British) 

1  409 

773 

3  559 

2  130 

700 

V  anderbilt  (American)  

' 

1,  244 

1,420 

1,  349 

•City  of  San  Diego  (American) 

953 

1  600 

1   187 

Lookout  (American)    ..  

,100 

Favorite  (British) 

385 

3  492 

1  887 

1  700 

Annie  (American)           

182 

50* 

1,  040 

2  000 

900 

650 

•Sylvia  Handy  (American) 

1,  700 

440? 

614 

it) 

536 

Dolphin  (British,  now  American,  J.  G. 
Swan) 

2  200 

S'zed 

Alfred  Adams  (British  now  the  Lily; 

1,455 

Black  Diamond  (British)  

328 

990 

765 

55 

Pathfinder  (British) 

1,700 

2,377 

800 

50 

Sierra  (British)  

1,000 

Active  (British) 

1,338 

Annie  Beck  (British) 

1  142 

S'zed 

W  P.  Sayward  (British) 

1  600 

S'zed. 

1,600 

•Grace  (British,  now  the  J.  H.  Lewis)  .  . 

1,700 

S'zed. 

Penelope  (British) 

194 

1  292 

1,054 

1,850 

Mountain  Chief  (British)     

630 

624 

780 

Mary  Taylor  (British) 

1,000 

1  625 

911 

Triumph  (British) 

500 

2,470 

60 

Lottie  Fairfleld  (British) 

2  507 

Ada  (British)... 

S'zed. 

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  205 

Seal  skins  landed  at  Victoria  from  Bering  Sea,  etc. — Continued. 


Schooner. 

1881. 

1882. 

1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

1886. 

1887.  .' 

1888. 

1889. 

1  030 

Annie  C  Moore  (British) 



715 

1  300 

Viva  (British)  

2,069 

2,  180 

Mii<r'rie  Me  (  British)    

1  424 

1  290- 

1  350' 

450 

1  600 

W^ebstor  (American)        .       ... 

520 

1,  UW 

500 

Walter  A.  Rich  (American)  



400 

400  / 

380 

284 

239- 

J.  G.  Swan  (  Americau)  



60 

700 

Sapphire  (British) 

1  629" 

Lilly  (British)    

74 

Ari«l  (  P.riti^li) 

1  316. 

Minnie  (British)  

521 

700 

San  Jose  (American) 

700 

Lilly  L  (  American)  

800 

1  537 

Bessie  Keuter  (American)  ... 

55O 

96 

Total  

193 

327 

908 

4  089 

9  181 

27  240 

22  331 

15  097 

23  066- 

Skins  seized   by  the   United  States, 
approximate  

2,000 

12,000a 

2  500 

Grand  total 193       327  i    908  j  4,  089  i  9, 181   29,  240  134,331  j  15, 097 


908 ! 


25,566- 


a  Actual  number  of  skins  seized  11,618  or  11,902.     See  page  337  United  States  counter  case.— J.  S.  B. 
NOTE.— The  interrogation  point  ( ?)  following  tigures  in  1887  column  indicates  doubt  as  to  the  correct- 
ness of  the  report. 

Number  of  Victoria  and  Northwest  Coast  fur-seal  skins  sent  to  market  from  1881  to  1889, 

inclusive. 


Year. 

Bering 
Sea 
skins. 

North 
Pacific 
skins. 

Total. 

1881  

193 

16  380 

16  573 

1882  

327 

22  880 

23  207 

1883  

908 

8  186 

9  094 

1884  

4  089 

16*  053 

20  142 

1885  

9  181 

11  184 

20  365 

1886  

29  240 

4  735 

33  975 

1887  

34  H31 

8  908 

43  239 

1888  

15  097 

24  801 

;;i|  gQg 

1889  

25  566 

2o'  580 

46  146 

The  above  totals  are  believed  to  be  very  nearly  correct,  having  been 
compiled  from  the  London  catalogues  of  sales,  but  the  numbers  caught, 
respectively,  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  are  not  definitely 
known.  The  catch  of  the  North  Pacific  has  been  ascertained  by  deduct- 
ing the  number  reported  from  the  Victoria  custom-house  records  as 
having  been  taken  in  Bering  Sea  from  the  total  number  sold  in  London. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  nearly  in  proportion  as  the  Bering  Sea  catch 
increased,  that  of  the  Northern  Pacific  decreased;  and,  that  while  the 
total  catch  of  1888,  following  the  seizures  and  repression  of  1887,  was 
not  very  materially  less,  the  proportion  taken  from  Bering  Sea  was  much 
smaller  than  in  the  preceding  and  following  year. 

The  inference  may  be  clearly  drawn  that  to  the  extent  to  which  illicit 
sealing  is  suppressed  in  Bering  Sea,  it  will  be  more  active  in  the  North 
Pacific,  and  that  the  simple  closure  of  the  former  body  of  water  against 
marauders  will  do  little  toward  the  effective  protection  of  seal  life. 


206 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Value  of   I'ictoria,    Hritish    Columbia,  sealing   vt'axels,   estimated  by  A.  It.  Milne,  esq., 
surveyor  of  the  port  of  Victoria,  and  T.  T.  William*,  of  San  rrancixco,  Auyust,  18S9. 


Schoum-r. 


Milnes       Williams'fl    ... 


valuation,      valnatit 


lonnage. 


Crew. 


White.    Indian. 


Marv  '1'aylor  .  .  . 

P'lt  h  tillder 

Came.  Munsie  A  (  'o  
tin 

$8. 
10 

i,  . 

1  1.  1 

$4. 
10 

500 

ooo 

(56 

do 

12 

>oC 

12 

OOO 

M-irv  l-'llen 

D    McLean 



t; 

(M)ll 

63 

Trinnipli  N<>.  1  . 

K.  C.  I'.aker  A  Co  
(  '    Spring  

14 

8 

lt(H 

mi, 

11, 
ti. 

000 
000 

98 

80 

Kate 

du 

1  II  II 

000 

Aurora  
Minnie  
Sapphire  

.     Nut  known  
.     H.,Jacohson  
Marvin  &  Co  

8 
8 

f>0< 

8. 
8. 
If). 

000 
,")OO 
000 

41 
40 
124 

Klk  Di'imoml 

\    Frank 

<) 

r)lll 

r> 

ooo 

81' 

Lilv 

do 

Ooo 

f>9 

Pem-i^K-  

(irav  A   Moses  
O'»dd  A  Co       

10 
10 

00 
0(1 

1.0, 

000 
000 

70 
71 

\V   I*   S-iywinl 

I,uudberir  »v  Co 

8 

in  i 

n 

ooo 

t>0 

IJallA-Ueopel               .    .. 

00 

000 

40 

Moore  A  Hacki-tt 

l.'i 

(Ml 

1") 

000 

113 

Theresa  
\riel 

r,al)l)ington  \  Co  

10 
1) 

t)0 

MM 

10. 

000 
(too 

!>0 

MoiinTain  <  hiet' 
Wanderer 

1  ndians  

I'ax  ton  A  (  'o 

:; 

Ml 

)                1. 

\                i 

ooo 

000 

•j:i    . 
16 

Muir  Ilro-, 

10 

1                1 

7  ."iii 

15 

Letetia  

Indians  

- 

10 

100 

Total 

a  °oo 

r>() 

)         M7I! 

1550 

1.  464 

, 

/  Actual  result.  *1'.'8,00(). 

/-Actual 

result. 

$l7l.:;5o. 

Slight  errors  appear  to  have  been  made  in  footing1  the  above,  but  the 
totals  are  as  reported  respectively  by  Milne  and  Williams. 

The  above  estimates  include  cost  of  outlit  for  a  season's  cruise,  com- 
prising boats,  guns,  spears,  ammunition,  provisions,  etc. 

The  schooner  Araunah,  formerly  belonging  to  the  Victoria  sealing 
fleet,  was  sei/ed  by  the  Russian  (lovernment  Jaly  1,  1888. 

Mr.  Milne  estimates  the  cost  of  a  sealing  venture  as  follows: 


Wages  of  ert'\\  .s  ami  hunters  ]>er  vessel $7,  000 

Insurance.  7  JXT  cent  of  ^8,000 560 

Provisions,  salt,  am  munition,  etc 3,  000 


Total  per  vessel,  avernj 


lie  also  estimates  the  annual  average  catch  at  2.000  skins  per  ves- 
sel, but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  average  has  been  for  Victoria  vessels 
during  the  last  four  ~  -1-  '— ^  1  "00  -1"'" 

Mr.  Williams 


matter  or  fact  the  average  has  been  tor  V  ictoria  vesse 
t  four  years  only  about  1,288  skins  per  vessel  annually. 
s  estimates  the  expense  of  a  sealing  trip  as  follows: 


For  ii  ve  boats 

Five  Marl  in  rilles.  at  .f;>5 

Five  shotguns,  at  $^5 

Two  extra,  guns 

Salt  for  skins 

Five  thousand  rounds  of  ammunition 

I  us  u  ranee,  one- third  of  a  year , 

Captain's  wages  four  months 

Ten  men  at  $'.>'>.  and  5  at  $20  per  month 

Paid  hunters,  l,b'0()  skins  at  $2  per  skin 

Provisions,  20  men  1  months  at  $8  per  month 

Total  per  vessel,  average , 


$500 

175 

175 

70 

200 

125 

175 

400 

1,800 

3,  200 

610 

7,  460 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  207 

The  annual  average  price  paid  for  seal  skins  in  Victoria  from  1881  to 
1889,  inclusive,  is  as  follows: 


Per  skin. 

1881 $9.25 

1882 8.00 

1883..  ....   10.00 


Per  skin,  l  Per  skin. 


1884 $7.75 

1885 7.50 

1886..  7.65 


1887 $5.50 

1888 5.62 

1889..  6.50 


General  average,  $7.53  per  skin. 


It.  will  be  observed  that  the  price  of  Victoria  and  Northwest  coast 
skins  has  decreased.  This  has  resulted  from  the  fact  that  it  was  found 
by  the  London  dressers  that  the  skins  of  seals  taken  indiscriminately, 
chiefly  from  females,  in  the  water,  did  not  compare  favorably  with  those 
taken  from  carefully  selected  young  males  on  the  islands. 

On  the  basis  of  the  foregoing  figures,  the  value  of  the  fur  seal  trade, 
as  conducted  by  the  Canadians,  is  surprisingly  small.  Their  annual 
catch  at  present  prices  is  worth  about  $125,000,  and  the  highest  esti- 
mated value  of  the  tonnage  engaged  is  only  $200,000 — amounts  incom- 
parably small  in  proportion  to  the  loss  that  would  be  sustained  by  the 
United  States  and  England  in  case  the  seal  fisheries  were  broken  up, 
as  will  inevitably  result  if  the  Canadian  manner  of  killing  is  continued. 

The  following  is  extracted  from  the  report  of  United  States  Consul 
Stevens,  of  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  to  the  Department  of  State,  in 
June,  1889: 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  present  decade  the  hunting  of  the  fur  seal  has  been 
vigorously  pursued  from  this  port.  There  are  some  21  vessels,  varying  from  26  to 
126  tons  register  (an  aggregate  tonnage  of  1,737  tons),  employing  458  meu,  and 
valued  at  about  $126,000,  engaged  in  hunting  the  fur  seal.  These  vessels,  some  of 
them  having  small  steam  power,  leave  here  about  the  1st  of  January  and  proceed 
southward,  returning  in  May.and  landing  the  skins,  taking  some  of  them  as  far  south 
as  San  Diego,  Cal.,  and  along  the  coast  up.  They  again  leave  for  the  north,  going  as 
far  as  the  Bering  Sea,  returning  in  September.  The  total  catch  for  1888  amounted  to 
26,720  skins,  much  smaller  than  for  recent  previous  years.  Of  these,  14,987  were 
reported  as  "the  Bering  Sea  collection,"  the  distinctive  name  given  to  those  taken 
far  north,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  claimed  to  be  finer  furs 
than  any  other. 

These  skins  are  sold  here  in  bundles,  salted  to  preserve  them,  and  they  may  be 
kept  many  months  in  that  condition  without  injury.  Ordinarily  sales  are  made  at 
so  much  per  skin  for  the  lot;  sometimes,  however,  they  are  sold  in  assortments  of 
males,  females,  and  pups,  the  average  price  for  the  latter  being  $6  per  skin.  They 
are  shipped  from  here  to  London,  where  they  are  dressed  and  dyed,  paying  a  duty 
when  they  reach  the  United  States,  as  they  mostly  do,  of  30  percent  on  their  then 
value  of  about  $22.50  per  skin. 

During  these  years  (1886-87)  some  eight  of  these  vessels  were  seized  in  the  north- 
ern waters  by  the  United  States  revenue  cutters  for  violation  of  the  law  of  July, 
1870,  "to  prevent  extermination  of  fur-bearing  animals."  No  seizures  were  made 
in  1888. 


208 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Victoria  and  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  and  dressed  in  London. 
[Compiled  by  Mr.  Alfred  Fraser,  of  the  house  of  Messrs.  C.  M.  Laiupson  &  Co.] 


Tear. 

Dry  skins 
sold.  • 

Salted 
skins  sold. 

Dressed  for 
owners. 

Total. 

1868 

2  141 

9  141 

1869   

1,671 

1  671 

1870 

684 

684 

1871    

12  495 

12  495 

1872 

14  5g4 

1  029 

699 

16  312 

1873     

891 

40 

931 

1874 

2  772 

4  949 

122 

7  843 

1875         .  . 

1  351 

1  646 

578 

3  575 

1876  

993 

2,042 

]  062 

4  097 

1877  

1,173 

772 

1,945 

1878  

912 

264 

2  434 

3  610 

1879 

918 

12  212 

2  397 

15  527 

1880       

8  939 

4  562 

13  501 

1881 

686 

9  997 

5  890 

16  573 

1882                 ... 

321 

11  727 

11  159 

23  207 

1883 

•  90 

2  319 

6  385 

9  094 

1884 

785 

9  242 

10  115 

a  20  142 

1885        

1,520 

2,078 

16,  667 

6  20,  365 

1886 

979 

17  909 

15  087 

c  33  975 

1887                    

2,843 

36,  907 

3  589 

d43  239 

1888    

1,252 

36,  816 

1,930 

•  39,  998 

1889 

f..  . 

46,  146 

Total 

49  361 

158  076 

83  488 

337  071 

a  Retained  in  United  States  (estimate). 

6  +  3,000  =  23,365.  c  +  3,000  =  36,975. 

NOTE.— Indians  dried  the  skins. 


d+  3,000  =  46,239. 


e  +  3,000  =  42,000. 


During  the  past  four  years,  say  from  1885  to  1888,  about  3,000  Bering 
Sea  and  Victoria  skins  have  been  annually  dressed  and  dyed  in  the 
United  States,  and  must  be  added  to  the  above. 

The  large  number  of  dry  skins  sold  in  1871-72  doubtless  consisted  in 
part  of  the  stock  of  the  Russian- American  Company  taken  before  the 
cession  of  the  Territory,  and  held  in  their  warehouse  at  Sitka. 

Adding  to  the  above  grand  total 337, 071 

Skins  dressed  in  the  United  States,  as  above  stated 12,  000 


349, 071 
And  deducting  those  from  the  Russian-American  Company's  stock  of  1867..     24, 000 

Makes  total  killing  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  from 

1868  to  1889 325,071 

That  this  number  should  be  considerably  more  than  doubled  to  rep- 
resent the  total  illegitimate  destruction  of  seal  life  has  been  so  frequently 
repeated  and  so  thoroughly  proved  as  to  need  no  further  proof  or 
demonstration. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  of  the  above  325,071  skins,  203,865  have 
been  taken  within  the  last  six  years  in  constantly  increasing  numbers, 
except  during  the  year  1888  following  the  seizures  and  repression  of 
1887. 


Sealing  vessels  (schooners)  fitted  out  in  1889  under  the  American  flag. 


Sylvia  Handy. 
Allie  J.  Alger. 
J.  G.  Swan. 
Venture. 
Henry  Dennis. 


San  Jose. 
Lily  L. 
Mollie  Adams. 
Bessie  Renter. 
Challenge. 


Lottie. 

Mary  Deleo. 

O.  S.  Fowler. 

City  of  San  Diego. 

Adonia. 


Caroline. 
Adele  (German). 
Marie  de  las  Cruzes(?) 
Alexander. 
Webster. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


209 


Decrt-tw  in  ni:r  of  I'nbilof  Island  seal  skinx,  1885-1389. 

Mr.  Alfred  Frascr.  of  Messrs.  ('.  M.  Lamps.m  \   Co..  of  London.] 


A  rerage 

w.-i^ht. 

1885. 

1886.            1887. 

1888. 

1889. 

Lbs.  oz. 
19      0 

149 

i:::t               29 

2 

Middlings          

15      0 

1,811 

1,17:{               696 

177 

220 

12      2 

5,300 

4,  875           2,  254 

2,318 

2,  133 

Smalls                              

<»     i:s 

20,664 

13,318           8,950 

9,298 

7,020 

Lap'f  pups         

8      4 

34.  270 

28,578         23,178 

18,305 

11,040 

7      0 

25,  207 

3i»,  910         35,591 

36,669 

26,  478 

Small  pups       

(>       0 

10,  684 

17,045         24,814 

29,  239 

33,859 

5      4 

1,291 

3,857            4,426 

3,962 

18  728 

4      0 

521 

Total 

99,  376 

99,  889         99,  938 

99,  970 

99,997 

The  lessees  of  the  seal  islands  have  been  unable  during  the  last  three 
years  to  secure  the  most  desirable  sizes  of  skins,  owing  to  diminished 
number  of  seals,  the  result  of  illicit  killing  by  marauders. 

The  decrease  in  the  size  of  skins  taken  by  lessees  is  in  proportion  to 
the  increase  of  numbers  caught  by  the  marauders. 


LOSS  OF  FEMALE  SEALS. 

British  and  American  testimony. 

[Extract  from  letter  of  Sir  George  Baden-Powell,  published  in  the  London  Times  November  30, 1889.] 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Canadian  sealers  take  very  few,  if  any,  seals 
close  to  the  islands.  Their  main  catch  is  made  far  out  at  sea,  and  is 
almost  entirely  composed  of  females.  (Case  of  the  United  States, 
p.  200,  and  Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  55,  Fifty-second  Congress,  first  session, 
p.  96.) 

[Extract  from  letter  of  Rear- Admiral  Hotham,  of  the  British  navy,  to  Admiralty.] 

WARSPITE,  at  Esquimau,  September  10,  1890. 

I  have  to  request  you  will  bring  to  the  notice  of  the  Lords  Commis- 
sioners of  Admiralty  this  letter  with  reference  to  my  telegram  of  the 
8th  instant. 

I  personally  saw  the  masters  of  the  sealing  schooners  named  below, 
and  obtained  from  them  the  information  here  reported:  Capt.  C.  Cox, 
schooner  Sapphire;  Captain  Petit,  schooner  Mary  Taylor;   Captain 
Hackett,  schooner  Annie  Seymour;  Capt.  W.  Cox,  schooner  Triumph. 
******* 

They  also  mentioned  that  two-thirds  of  their  catch  consisted  of  female 
seals,  but  that  after  the  1st  of  July  very  few  indeed  were  captured  "  in 
pup,"  and  that  when  sealing  outside  the  Bering  Sea,  round  the  coast, 
on  the  way  up  (where  this  year  the  heaviest  catches  were  made),  they 
acknowledged  that  the  seals  "in  pup"  were  frequently  captured. 
(Extract  from  Vol.  Ill,  Appendix  to  Case  of  Great  Britain,  cited  in 
United  States,  No.  1,  1891,  p.  17.) 

There  were  killed  this  year  so  far  from  40,000  to  50,000  fur  seals, 

which  have  been  taken  by  schooners  from  San  Francisco  and  Victoria. 

The  greater  number  were  killed  in  Bering  Sea,  and  were  nearly  all  cows 

or  female  seals.    This  enormous  catch,  with  the  increase  which  will 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 14 


210  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

take  place  when  the  vessels  fitting  up  every  year  are  ready,  will,  I  am 
afraid,  soon  deplete  our  fur-seal  fishery,  and  it  is  a  great  pity  such  a 
valuable  industry  could  not  in  some  way  be  protected.  (Extract  from 
reports  of  the  department  of  fisheries  of  Canada,  188G,  by  Thomas 
Mowat,  inspector  of  fisheries  for  British  Columbia,  p.  U68.  Cited  in 
British  Case,  Appendix,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  173;  United  States  Xo.  1890.) 

The  majority  of  our  hunters  contend  that  there  are  over  7  per  cent 
of  pups  in  the  entire  catch  of  fur  seals  on  the  coast,  while  in  Bering 
Sea  the  catch  does  not  exceed  1  per  cent.  But  they  can  not  deny  the 
fact  that  60  per  cent  of  the  entire  catch  of  Bering  Sea  is  made  up  of 
female  seals.  (Extract  from  reports  of  the  department  of  fisheries, 
Canada,  1888,  p.  241,  by  Thomas  Mowat,  inspector  of  fisheries  for  Brit- 
ish Columbia.  Cited  in  United  States  Case,  p.  201.) 

Mel  Bonde,  of  Victoria,  sealer.  (Case  of  United  States,  Appendix, 
Vol.  II,  p.  315.) 

Bonde  has  been  out  four  years  on  sealing  schooners  from  Victoria, 
namely,  from  1887  to  1890,  inclusive.  He  says : 

The  seals  caught  along  the  coast  after  the  1st  of  April  were  mostly  pregnant  females, 
and  those  caught  in  Bering  Sea  were  females  that  had  given  birth  to  their  young. 
I  often  noticed  the  milk  flowing  out  of  their  breasts  when  being  skinned  and  have 
seen  live  pups  cut  out  of  their  mothers  and  live  around  on  the  decks  for  a  week. 

Cross-examination  by  the  British  Government  (see  British  Counter 
Case,  Vol.  II,  p.  94): 

That  on  each  of  said  vessels  [namely,  the  four  he  had  served  on]  1  have  had  more 
or  less  to  do  with  skinning  the  seals,  and  would  say  that  about  60  per  cent  on  the 
coast  were  females  and  about  50  per  cent  in  Bering  Sea.  I  distinguished  the  male 
skin  from  the  female  by  the  absence  of  teats. 

Christ  Clausen,  of  Victoria,  master  mariner  (Case  of  United  States, 
Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  319) : 

Acted  as  mate  in  1889.     Was  navigator  on  schooner  Minnie  in  1890. 

My  catch  that  year  was  2,600,  of  which  about  2,000  were  caught  in  Bering  Sea. 

Acted  as  navigator  on  same  vessel  in  1891. 

The  seals  we  catch  along  the  coast  are  nearly  all  pregnant  females.  It  is  seldom 
we  capture  an  old  bull,  and  what  males  we  get  are  usually  young  ones.  I  have  fre- 
quently seen  cow  seals  cut  open  and  the  unborn  pups  cut  out  of  them,  and  they 
would  live  for  several  days.  This  is  a  frequent  occurrence.  It  is  my  experience  that 
fully  85  per  cent  of  the  seals  1  took  in  Bering  Sea  were  females  that  had  given  birth 
to  their  pups,  and  their  teats  would  be  full  of  milk.  I  have  caught  seals  of  this 
kind  from  100  to  150  miles  away  from  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

E.  M.  Greenleaf,  of  Victoria,  master  mariner  (Case  of  the  United 
States,  Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  324) : 

Since  then  (1882)  I  have  been  interested  in  the  sealing  business,  and  am  well 
acquainted  with  it  and  the  men  engaged  in  it  and  the  methods  employed.  I  am 
acquainted  with  the  hunters  and  masters  who  sail  from  this  port,  and  board  all 
incoming  and  outgoing  vessels  of  that  class.  These  men  all  acknowledge  that  nearly 
all  the  seals  taken  off  the  Pacific  Coast  are  females,  and  that  they  are  nearly  all  with 
young. 

*  *  *  #  #  *  * 

I  have  also  learned  by  conversation  with  Bering  Sea  hunters  that  they  kill  seal 
cows  20  to  200  miles  from  the  breeding  grounds  and  that  these  cows  had  recently 
given  birth  to  young.  I  have  observed  in  the  skins  that  the  size  of  the  teats  show 
either  an  advanced  state  of  pregnancy  or  of  recent  delivery  of  young. 

Arthur  Griffin, of  Victoria,  sealer  (Case  of  United  States,  Appendix, 
Vol.  II,  p.  325) : 

He  went  sealing  in  1890. 

Began  sealing  off  the  northern  coast  of  California,  following  the  sealing  herd 
northward,  capturing  about  700  seals  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  two-thirds  of  which 
were  females  with  pups ;  the  balance  were  young  seals,  both  male  and  female.  We 
entered  Bering  Sea  July  13  through  Unimak  Pass  and  captured  between  900  and 
1,000  seals  therein,  most  of  which  were  females  in  milk. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIB1LOF    ISLANDS.  211 

Of  the  following  year,  he  says : 

We  captured  between  900  and  1,000  on  the  coast,  most  nil  of  which  were  females 
with  pups.  We  entered  the  sea  July  12  through  Uuimak  Pass  and  captured  about  800 
seals  in  those  waters,  about  90  per  cent  of  which  were  females  in  milk  from  20  to  100 
miles  from  the  rookeries. 

James  Harrison,  of  Victoria,  sealer  (Case  of  the  United  States, 
Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  326) : 

We  commenced  sealing  right  off  the  coast;  went  as  far  south  as  the  California 
Coast,  and  then  hunted  north  to  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver  Islands.  Caught  500 
skins  during  the  season ;  almost  all  of  them  were  pregnant  females.  Out  of  100  seals 
taken  about  90  per  cent  would  be  females  with  young  pups  in  them.  I  can't  tell  a  male 
from  a  female  while  in  the  water  at  a  distance.  On  an  average,  I  think  the  hunters 
will  save  about  one  out  of  three  that  they  kill,  but  they  wound  many  more  that 
escape  and  die  afterwards.  We  entered  Bering  Sea  about  the  1st  of  June,  and 
caught  about  200  seals  in  those  waters.  They  were  mostly  mothers  that  had  given 
birth  to  their  young  and  were  around  the  fishing  banks  feeding.  The  hunters  used 
shotguns  and  rifles.  In  Bering  Sea  we  killed  both  males  and  females,  but  I  do  not 
know  the  proportion  of  one  to  the  other. 

James  Hayward,  of  Victoria,  sealer  (Case  of  the  United  States, 
Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  327): 

He  went  out  sealing  in  1887,  1888,  1890,  and  1891.  His  vessels 
appear  to  have  made  large  catches.  He  makes  the  following  statement : 

Most  of  the  seals  killed  on  the  coast  are  pregnant  females,  while  those  we  killed  in 
Bering  Sea  after  the  1st  of  July  were  females  that  had  given  birth  to  their  young  on 
the  seal  islands  and  come  out  into  the  sea  to  feed.  Have  caught  them  150  miles  off 
from  the  shore  of  the  seal  islands,  and  have  skinned  them  when  their  breasts  were 
full  of  milk.  Seals  travel  and  go  a  long  way  to  feed. 

Alfred  Dardean,  of  Victoria,  sealer  (Case  of  United  States,  Appen- 
dix, Vol.  II,  p.  322)  : 
He  went  sealing  in  1890. 

We  caught  over  900  skins  before  entering  the  sea  and  our  whole  catch  that  year 
was  2,159  skins.  Of  the  seals  that  were  caught  off  the  coast  fully  90  per  cent  out  of 
every  hundred  had  young  pups  in  them.  The  boats  would  bring  the  seals  killed  on 
board  the  vessel  and  we  would  take  the  young  pups  out  and  skin  them.  If  the  pup 
is  a  good,  nice  one  we  would  skin  it  and  keep  it  for  ourselves.  I  had  8  such  skins 
myself.  Four  out  of  five,  if  caught  in  May  or  June,  would  be  alive  when  we  cut 
them  out  of  the  mothers.  One  of  them  we  kept  for  pretty  near  three  weeks  alive 
on  deck  by  feeding  it  on  condensed  milk.  One  of  the  men  finally  killed  it  because 
it  cried  so  pitifully.  We  only  got  3  seals  with  pups  in  them  in  Bering  Sea.  Most 
all  of  them  were  females  and  had  given  birth  to  their  young  on  the  islands,  and  the 
milk  would  run  out  of  the  teats  on  the  deck  when  we  would  skin  them.  We  caught 
female  seals  in  milk  more  than  100  miles  off  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

Morris  Moss,  furrier,  and  vice-president  Sealers'  Association  of  Vic- 
toria (Case  of  United  States,  Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  341): 
He  has  bought  from  10,000  to  20,000  seal  skins  per  annum. 

I  believe  the  majority  of  seals  captured  by  white  hunters  in  Bering  Sea  are  females 
in  search  of  food. 

J.  Johnson,  of  Victoria,  sealer  and  sailing  master  (Case  of  the  United 
States,  Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  331): 

Has  spent  six  years  of  his  life  sealing,  and  been  captain  of  four  dif- 
ferent schooners. 

A  large  majority  of  the  seals  taken  on  the  coast  are  cows  with  pup.  A  few  young 
males  are  taken,  the  ages  ranging  from  1  to  5  years.  Once  in  a  while  an  old  bull  is 
taken  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean.  I  use  no  discrimination  in  killing  seals,  but  kill 
everything  that  comes  near  the  boat  in  the  shape  of  a  seal.  The  majority  of  the 
seals  killed  in  Bering  Sea  are  females.  I  have  killed  female  seals  75  miles  from  the 
islands  that  were  full  of  milk. 


212  SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Victor  Jaeobson,  of  Victoria,  sealer  (Case  of  the  United  States, 
Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  328) : 

He  is  a  British  subject.  Has  been  engaged  in  sealing  for  eleven  years, 
ten  years  as  a  master.  He  is  now  master  and  owner  of  school) er  Mary 
Ellen  and  owner  of  schooner  Minnie. 

The  female  seals  go  through  the  passes  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  into  Bering  Sea 
between  June  25  and  .July  15.  Females  killed  previous  to  this  time  I  found  with 
pup,  but  none  with  pups  after  that  hitter  date.  I  have  killed  female  seals  taken  by 
me  that  three  in  five  are  females  and  nearly  all  with  pup. 

Cross-examination  by  the  British  Government  (See  British  Counter 
Case,  Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  83) : 

My  experience  has  been  that  about  three  out  of  five  seals  taken  on  the  coast  are 
females,  and  about  the  same  in  Bering  Sea. 

Edwin  P.  Porter,  of  Victoria,  sealer  (Case  of  the  United  States, 
Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  346) : 

My  experience  in  four  years'  sealing  is  that  nearly  all  the  seals  taken  along  the 
coast  are  pregnant  females,  and  it  is  seldom  tLat  one  of  them  is  caught  that  has  not 
a  young  pup  in  her.  In  the  fore  part  of  the  season  the  pup  is  small,  but  in  May  and 
June,  when  they  are  taken  off  the  Queen  Charlotte  and  Kodiak  islands,  the  unborn 
pup  is  quite  large,  and  we  frequently  take  them  out  of  the  mothers  alive.  1  have 
kept  some  of  them  alive  for  six  weeks,  that  were  cut  out  of  their  mothers,  by  feeding 
them  condensed  milk.  The  seals  we  capture  in  Bering  Sea  were  fully  80  per  cent 
females  that  had  given  birth  to  their  young.  A  fact  that  I  often  noticed  was  that 
their  teats  would  be  full  of  milk  when  I  skinned  them,  and  I  have  seen  them  killed 
from  20  to  100  miles  from  the  seal  islands. 

Charles  Peterson,  of  Victoria,  sealer  (Case  of  the  United  States, 
Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  345) : 

We  entered  Bering  Sea  about  the  15th  of  August,  through  the  Unimak  Pass,  and 
captured  therein  1,404  seals,  most  of  which  were  cows  in  milk.  On  that  voyage  we 
caught  female  seals  in  milk  over  80  miles  from  the  rookeries  where  they  had  left 
their  young.  I  have  seen  the  deck  almost  flooded  with  milk  while  we  were  skinning 
the  seals.  Ninety  per  cent  of  all  the  seals  we  captured  in  the  water  were  female 
seals. 

Robert  H.  McManus,  of  Victoria,  journalist  (Case  of  the  United 
States,  Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  337) : 

Tuesday,  August  25,  rain  in  morning.  Boats  and  canoe  out  at  half  past  9  o'clock ; 
out  all  day  (returning  to  dinner).  Result:  First  boat,  2  seals  reported;  wounded 
and  lost  5;  seals  said  to  be  shy  and  wary,  and  not  so  numerous  as  formerly;  atten- 
tion called  to  cow  seal  being  skinned  (which  I  had  taken  for  a  young  bull).  The 
snow-white  milk  running  down  blood-stained  deck  was  a  sickening  sight.  Indian 
canoe,  1  seal.  Total,  3  seals,  2  mediums,  and  1  cow. 

Wednesday,  August  26,  cloudy  morning.  Seals  floating  round  schooner.  Boats 
and  canoe  out  all  day.  Result:  First  boat,  1  seal ;  second  boat,  none;  Indian  canoe, 
10  seals;  total,  11  seals;  8  cows  in  milk  and  3 medium.  Skipper  in  first  boat  blamed 
the  powder.  Second  boat  said  it  was  too  heavy  and  clumsy  for  the  work.  Skipper 
reported  having  wounded  and  lost  7,  and  the  men  in  second  boat  9 — 16  in  all. 
Skipper  said  seals  not  so  numerous  as  formerly,  more  shy ;  also  blamed  the  powder. 
Evidently  a  great  deal  of  shooting  and  very  few  seals  to  correspond. 

Saturday,  August  29,  ship's  cook  brought  down  from  deck  a  large  cow  seal  at  40 
yards  rise.  Boats  and  canoe  out  all  day.  Fine,  clear,  balmy  weather.  Akutan  Island 
in  sight.  Result:  First  boat,  3  seals;  second  boat,  3  seals;  cook,  from  deck,  1; 
Indian  canoe,  10;  total  catch,  17  seals,  greater  proportion  cows  in  milk.  Horrid 
sight;  could  not  stay  the  ordeal  out  till  all  were  flayed.  A  large  number  reported 
as  wounded  and  lost.  According  to  appearances,  slaughter  and  indiscriminate. 

Sunday,  August  30.  Result  of  hunt:  First  boat,  2  seals;  second  boat,  1;  Indian 
canoe,  7 ;  total,  10  seals,  7  of  which  were  cows  in  milk.  Several,  as  usual,  reported 
wounded  and  lost  by  the  boats.  The  great  superiority  of  the  Indian  spear  evident. 

The  British  commissioners,  in  their  report,  express  the  following 
views  with  regard  to  pelagic  sealing,  which  views  should  be  specially 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  213 

noted  in  connection  with  the  foregoing  descriptions  of  how  gravid 
nursing  females  are  killed: 

633.  By  the  pelagic  sealers  and  by  Indian  hunters  along  the  coast,  fur  seals  of  both 
sexes  arc  killed,  and,  indeed,  it  would  be  unreasonable,  under  the  circumstances,  to 
expect  that  a  distinction  should  be  made  in  this  respect,  any  more  than  that  the 
angler  should  discriminate  between  the  sexes  of  the  fish  he  may  hook. 

010.  The  accusation  of  butchery  laid  against  those  who  take  the  seals  on  shore 
can  not  be  brought  against  this  pelagic  method  of  killing  the  seal,  which  is  really 
hunting  as  distinguished  from  slaughter,  and  in  which  the  animal  has  what  may  be 
described  as  a  fair  chance  for  its  life. 

Capt.  C.  L.  Hooper,  of  the  United  States  revenue  marine  (United 
States  Counter  Case,  p.  214) : 

Captain  Hooper  made  extensive  official  investigations  in  regard  to 
seal  life  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  in  Bering  Sea,  and  the  North  Pacific 
Ocean  in  1891  and  1892.  In  the  course  of  these  investigations  he  cap- 
tured, between  July  24  and  August  31,  1892,  41  seals  in  Bering  Sea. 
He  made  no  efforts  to  secure  large  numbers  or  all  that  he  saw.  The  41 
seals  were  composed  of  the  following  classes:  Old  males,  1;  young 
males,  11;  nursing  cows,  22 j  virgin  cows,  7.  He  says: 

Since  leaving  San  Francisco  on  March  9  the  Corwin  has  steamed  16,200  miles,  and 
8,713  miles  since  the  date  of  my  reporting  for  duty,  as  part  of  the  Bering  Sea  fleet. 
Of  this  distance,  5,567  miles  were  steamed  in  Bering  Sea. 

I  find  in  general,  as  one  of  the  results  of  my  investigations,  that  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  seals  taken  are  now  having  young  or  capable  of  bearing  them  at  no 
distant  clay;  that  it  is  impossible  to  discriminate  as  to  age  or  sex  of  seals  while  in 
the  water,  except  in  the  case  of  young  pups  and  old  bulls;  that  even  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions  a  large  percentage  is  lost  by  sinking  or  wounding;  and  that  by 
reason  of  the  tameuess  of  the  nursing  cows,  which  form  the  larger  part  of  the  seals 
sent,  pelagic  hunting  in  Bering  Sea  is  peculiarly  destructive  and  unless  stopped  will 
wholly  exterminate  the  already  greatly  depleted  herds. 

1  do  not  believe  that  it  is  possible  to  indicate  any  zonal  limit  in  Bering  Sea  beyond 
which  pelagic  sealing  could  be  carried  on  and  at  the  same  time  preserve  the  seals 
from  complete  annihilation.  Further,  I  wish  to  renew  a  statement  contained  in  a 
former  report  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  that,  unless  supplemented  with 
protection  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  no  amount  of  protection  in  Bering  Sea  will  preserve 
the  herds. 

Capt.  L.  G.  Shepard,  United  States  revenue  marine  (Case  of  the 
United  States,  Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  187): 

I  am  45  years  of  age,  a  resident  of  Washington,  U.  C.,  and  am  captain  in  the  United 
States  Revenue-Marine  Service,  chief  of  division  revenue  marine,  Treasury  Depart- 
ment. In  command  of  the  revenue  steamer  Rush,  I  made  three  cruises  to  Bering  Sea 
in  the  years  1887,  1888,  and  1889  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  existing  law  for  protec- 
tion of  seal  life  in  Alaska  and  the  waters  thereof.  I  hereby  append  to  and  make  a 
part  of  this  affidavit  a  table,  marked  A,  giving  the  names  of  the  vessels  seized  by  me 
in  Bering  Sea  while  violating  the  law  of  the  United  States  in  relation  to  the  taking 
of  fur-bearing  animals. 

******* 

I  examined  the  skins  taken  from  sealing  vessels  seized  in  1887  and  1889,  over  12,000 
skins,  and  of  these  at  least  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  were  the  skins  of  females. 
Of  the  females  taken  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  early  in  the  season  in  Bering  Sea, 
nearly  all  are  heavy  with  young,  and  the  death  of  the  female  necessarily  causes  the 
death  of  the  unborn  pup  seal;  in  fact,  I  have  seen  on  nearly  every  vessel  seized  the 
pelts  of  unborn  pups  which  had  been  taken  from  their  mothers.  Of  the  females 
taken  in  Bering  Sea  nearly  all  are  in  milk,  and  I  have  seen  the  milk  come  from  the 
can-asses  of  dead  females  lying  on  the  decks  of  sealing  vessels  which  were  more 
than  100  miles  from  the  Pribilof  Islands.  From  this  fact,  and  from  the  further  fact 
that  I  have  seen  seals  in  the  water  over  150  miles  from  the  islands  during  the  sum- 
mer, I  am  convinced  that  the  female,  after  giving  birth  to  her  young  on  the  rookeries, 
goes  at  least  150  miles,  in  many  cases,  from  the  islands  in  search  of  food.  It  is 
impossible  to  distinguish  a  male  from  a  female  seal  in  the  water,  except  in  the  case 
of  a  very  old  bull,  when  his  size  distinguishes  him.  Therefore,  open-sea  sealing  is 
entirely  indiscriminate  as  to  sex  or  age. 


214  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Capt.  Daniel  HcLane  (Case  of  the  United  States,  Appendix,  Vol. 
II,  p.  443): 

Captain  McLane  has  been  engaged  in  pelagic  sealing  for  eleven  years 
as  master  of  vessels  and  deposes  in  part  as  follows : 

Q.  Of  what  sex  are  the  seals  taken  by  you,  or  usually  killed  by  hunting  vessels  in 
the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  Females. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  them  are  cows?  Suppose  you  catch  100  seals,  how  many 
males  would  you  have  among  them? — A.  About  10. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  taken  are  with  pup? — A.  The  females  are  mostly 
all  with  pup;  that  is,  up  until  the  1st  of  July. 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  animals  in  the  last  few 
years? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  cause? — A.  Killing  off  the  females. 

Q.  If  sealing  continues  as  heretofore,  is  there  any  danger  of  exterminating  them? — 
A.  Yes,  sir;  they  will  all  be  exterminated  in  three  years,  and  there  will  be  no  more 
sealing. 

Q.  Do  you  think  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in  the  Bering  Sea? — 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

James  Kiernan,  of  San  Francisco,  sealing  captain  (Case  of  the 
United  States,  Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  449) : 

My  experience  has  been  that  the  sex  of  the  seals  usually  killed  by  hunters  employed 
on  vessels  under  my  command,  both  in  the  ocean  and  Bering  Sea,  were  cows.  I 
should  say  that  not  less  than  80  per  cent  of  those  caught  each  year  were  of  that  sex. 
I  have  observed  that  those  killed  in  the  North  Pacific  were  mostly  female  carrying 
their  young,  and  were  generally  caught  while  asleep  on  the  water,  while  those  taken 
in  the  Bering  Sea  were  nearly  all  mother  seals  in  milk,  that  had  left  their  young  and 
were  in  search  of  food. 

#  *  Tf  7?  •  *  #  # 

The  mother  does  not  leave  the  rookery  in  search  of  food  until  she  has  dropped  her 
young  and  become  pregnant  again,  hence  when  she  has  been  slain  it  means  the  loss 
of  three,  as  the  young  pup  will  unquestionably  die  for  lack  of  sustenance. 

Michael  White,  of  San  Francisco,  sealing  captain  (Case  of  the 
United  States,  Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  489) : 

I  am  50  years  of  age.  I  reside  at  East  Oakland.  My  occupation  is  master  mariner, 
and  I  have  been  so  engaged  for  twenty-seven  years,  off  and  on.  I  have  been  engaged 
in  seal  hunting  during  the  years  1885, 1887, 1888,  and  1889  in  the  North  Pacific  and 
Bering  Sea.  I  first  went  out  in  1885  in  the  schooner  City  of  Sun  Diego,  chartered  by 
myself  and  others,  and  my  catch  for  that  year  was  between  2,300  and  2,400  seals. 
Of  that  number  about  1,900  were  caught  in  Bering  Sea.  There  were  but  very  few  ves- 
sels sealing  at  that  time.  In  1886  I  was  master  of  the  schooner  Terese,  sailing  from  San 
Francisco  on  the  2d  day  of  February,  and  commenced  capturing  seals  on  the  coast 
of  California,  and  followed  them  from  that  date  north  into  Bering  Sen.  AVe  caught 
them  from  5  to  60  miles  off  the  coast.  I  entered  Bering  Sea  on  the  6th  day  of  June, 
1886,  and  previous  to  that  time  had  caught  about  880  seals.  Then  I  sealed  in  Ber- 
ing Sea  from  that  time  to  the  28th  of  August;  caught  about  2,200  more,  the  whole 
catch  being  3,000  for  the  year. 

In  1887  I  was  master  of  the  schooner  Lottie  Faircltild,  sailing  from  San  Francisco 
on  or  about  the  17th  day  of  March,  and  worked  northward  to  Bering  Sea,  and  cap- 
tured 883  seals.  I  then  entered  Bering  Sea  about  the  6th  of  July,  cruising  there 
until  the  29th  day  of  August,  and  took  2,517  seals  more,  the  whole  catch  being  3,400 
for  the  year. 

In  1888  I  took  the  schooner  Undaunted  on  a  fishing  and  sealing  voyage,  leaving 
here  on  or  about  the  20th  of  March,  and  cruised  in  the  North  Pacific  up  to  the  island 
of  Kodiak,  capturing  400  seals  up  to  the  7th  day  of  June.  I  did  not  enter  Bering 
Sea  that  year.  I  did  the  same  in  18£9,  my  trip  being  the  same  as  in  1888,  and  my 
capture  of  seals  was  about  the  same.  I  then  quit  sealing,  and  I  am  now  engaged  in 
trading  with  the  Gilbert  and  Marshall  islands  in  the  South  Pacific  Sea. 

In  my  captures  off  the  coast  between  here  and  Sitka  90  per  cent  of  my  catch  were 
females,  but  off  the  coast  of  Unimak  Pass  there  was  a  somewhat  smaller  percentage 
of  females,  and  nearly  all  the  females  were  cows  heavy  with  pup,  and,  in  some 
instances,  the  period  of  gestation  was  so  near  at  hand  that  I  have  frequently  taken 
the  live  pup  from  the  mother's  womb. 

I  never  paid  any  particular  attention  as  to  the  exact  number  of  or  proportion  of 
each  sex  killed  in  Bering  Sea,  but  I  do  know  that  the  larger  portion  of  them  were 
females  and  were  mothers  giving  milk.  I  have  never  hunted  within  15  miles  of  the 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  215 

Pribilof  Islands,  but  I  have  often  killedseals  in  milk  at  distances  of  not  less  than  100 
to  200  miles  from  these  islands.  From  my  knowledge  and  experience  in  the  business 
it  is  my  conviction  that  within  the  last  few  years,  since  the  sealers  have  become  so 
numerous  in  the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  that  not  more  than  one  out  of  three  is 
secured.  ( )ui  purpose  and  practice  was  to  take  all  seals  we  could  get,  regardless  of 
their  age  or  sex.  without  any  discrimination  whatever. 

M.  A.  Healy: 

My  own  observation  and  the  information  obtained  from  seal  hunters  convince  me 
that  fully  i'O  per  cent  of  the  seals  found  swimming  in  Bering  Sea  during  the 
breeding  season  are  females  in  search  of  food,  and  the  slaughter  results  in  the 
destruction  of  her  young  by  starvation.  I  firmly  believe  that  the  fur-seal  industry 
at  the  Pribilof  Islands  can  be  saved  from  destruction  only  by  a  total  prohibition 
against  killing  seals,  not  only  in  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea,  but  also  during  their 
annual  immigration  northward  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

This  conclusion  is  based  upon  the  well-known  fact  that  the  mother  seals  are 
slaughtered  by  the  thousands  in  the  North  Pacific  while  on  their  way  to  the  islands 
to  give  birth  to  their  young,  and  extinction  must  necessarily  come  to  any  species  of 
animal  where  the  female  is  continually  hunted  and  killed  during  the  period  required 
for  gestation  and  rearing  of  her  young.  As  now  practiced,  there  is  no  respite  to  the 
female  seal  from  the  relentless  pursuit  of  the  seal  hunters,  for  the  schooners  close 
their  season  with  the  departure  of  the  seals  from  the  northern  sea  and  then  return 
home,  refit  immediately,  and  start  out  upon  a  new  voyage  in  February  or  March, 
commencing  upon  the  coast  of  California,  Oregon,  and  Washington,  following  the 
seals  northward  as  the  season  advances  into  Bering  Sea. 

Captain  Caulson  says: 

In  company  with  Special  Agent  Murray,  Captain  Hooper,  and  Engineer  Brerton, 
of  the  Corwin,  I  visited  the  Reef  and  Garbotch  rookeries,  St.  Paul  Island,  in  August, 
1891,  and  saw  one  of  the  most  pitiable  sights  that  I  have  ever  witnessed.  Thousands 
of  dead  and  dying  pups  were  scattered  over  the  rookeries,  while  the  shores  were 
lined  with  emaciated,  hungry  little  fellows,  with  their  eyes  turned  toward  the  sea, 
uttering  plaintive  cries  for  their  mothers,  which  were  destined  never  to  return. 
Numbers  of  them  were  opened,  their  stomachs  examined,  and  the  fact  revealed  that 
starvation  was  the  cause  of  death,  no  organic  disease  being  apparent. 

The  great  number  of  seals  taken  by  hunters  in  1891  was  to  the  westward  and  north- 
westward of  St.  Paul  Island,  and  the  largest  number  of  dead  were  found  that  year  in 
rookeries  situated  on  the  west  side  of  the  island.  This  fact  alone  goes  a  great  way, 
in  my  opinion,  to  confirm  the  theory  that  the  loss  of  the  mothers  was  the  cause  of 
mortality  among  the  young. 

After  the  mother  seals  have  given  birth  to  their  young  on  the  islands  they  go  to 
the  water  to  feed  and  bathe,  and  I  have  observed  them,  not  only  around  the  island, 
but  from  80  to  100  miles  out  at  sea. 

In  different  years  the  feeding  grounds  or  the  location  where  the  greater  number  of 
seals  are  taken  by  poachers  seem  to  differ;  in  other  words,  the  seals  frequently  change 
feeding  grounds.  For  instant,  in  1887  the  greatest  number  of  seals  were  taken  by 
poachers  between  Unimak  and  Akntau  passes  and  the  seal  islands,  and  to  the  south- 
westward  of  St.  George  Island.  In  1889  the  catching  was  largely  done  to  the  south- 
ward and  eastward,  in  many  cases  from  50  to  150  miles  distant  from  the  seal  islands. 
In  the  season  of  1890,  to  the  southward  and  westward,  also  to  northwest  and  north- 
east of  the  islands,  showing  that  the  seals  have  been  scattered.  The  season  of  1891, 
the  greatest  number  were  taken  to  northward  and  westward  of  St.  Paul,  and  at 
various  distances  from  25  to  150  miles  away. 

Mr.  Kedpath: 

The  Alaskan  fur  seal  is  a  native  of  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and,  unless  prevented,  will 
return  to  those  islands  every  year  with  the  regularity  of  the  seasons.  All  the  pecul- 
iarities of  nature  that  surround  the  Pribilof  group  of  islands,  such  as  low  and  even 
temperature,  fog,  mist,  and  perpetually  clouded  sky,  seem  to  indicate  their  fitness  and 
adaptability  as  a  home  for  the  Alaskan  fur  seal;  and,  with  an  instinct  bordering  on 
reason,  they  have  selected  these  lonely  and  barren  islands  as  the  choicest  spots  of 
earth  upon  which  to  assemble  and  dwell  together  during  their  six  months'  stay  on 
laud;  and  annually  they  journey  across  thousands  of  miles  of  ocean  and  pass  hun- 
dreds of  islands,  without  pause  or  rest,  until  they  come  to  the  place  of  their  birth. 
And  it  is  a  well-established  fact  that  upon  no  other  land  in  the  world  do  the  Alaskan 
fur  seal  haul  out  of  water. 

J.  C.  Redpath  says: 

No  cow  will  nurse  any  pup  but  her  own,  and  I  have  often  watched  the  pups 
attempt  to  suck  cows,  but  they  were  always  driven  off,  and  this  fact  convinces  me 


216  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

that  the  cow  recognizes  her  own  pup  but  that  the  pup  does  not  know  its  darn.  At 
birth,  and  for  several  weeks  after,  the  pup  is  utterly  helpless  and  entirely  dependent 
upon  its  dam  for  sustenance,  and  should  anything  prevent  her  return  during  this 
period,  it  dies  on  the  rookery.  This  has  been  demonstrated  beyond  a  doubt  since 
the  sealing  vessels  have  operated  largely  in  Bering  Sea  during  the  months  of  July, 
August,  and  September,  and  which,  killing  the  cows  at  the  feeding  grounds,  left  the 
pups  to  die  on  the  islands. 

At  about  5  weeks  old  the  pups  begin  to  run  about  and  congregate  in  bunches  or 
"pods/'  and  at  6  to  8  weeks  old  they  go  into  the  shallow  water  and  gradually  learn 
to  swim.  They  are  not  amphibious  when  born,  nor  can  they  swim  for  several  weeks 
thereafter,  and  were  they  put  into  the  water  Avould  perish  beyond  a  doubt,  as  has 
been  well  established  by  the  drowning  of  pups  caught  by  the  surf  in  stormy  weather. 
After  learning  to  swim  the  pups  still  draw  sustenance  from  the  cows,  and  I  have 
noticed  at  the  annual  killing  of  pups  for  food  in  November  that  their  stomachs  were 
always  full  of  milk  and  nothing  else,  although  the  cows  had  left  the  islands  some 
days  before.  I  have  no  knowledge  of  the  pups  obtaining  sustenance  of  any  kind 
except  that  furnished  by  the  cows,  nor  have  I  ever  seen  any  thing  but  milk  in  a  dead 
pup's  stomach. 

Karp  Buteriii  says : 

Schooners  kill  cows,  pups  die,  and  seals  are  gone.  Some  meu  tell  me  last  year, 
"  Karp,  seals  are  sick."  I  know  seals  are  not  sick;  I  never  seen  a  sick  seal,  and  I 
eat  seal  meat  every  day  of  my  life.  No  big  seals  die  unless  we  club  them  ;  only  pups 
die  for  food  after  the  cows  are  shot  at  sea.  When  we  used  to  kill  pups  for  food  in 
November,  they  were  always  full  of  milk  ;  the  pups  that  die  on  the  rookeries  have  no 
milk.  The  cows  go  into  the  sea  to  feed  after  the  pups  are  born,  and  the  schooner 
men  shoot  them  all  the  time. 

Captain  Carthcut  says: 

About  80  per  cent  of  the  seals  1  caught  in  Bering  Sea  were  mothers  in  milk,  and 
were  feeding  around  the  fishing  banks  just  north  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  I  got 
most  of  ruy  seals  from  50  to  250  miles  from  the  seal  islands.  I  don't  think  I  ever 
sealed  within  25  miles  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.  They  are  very  tame  after  giving 
birth  to  their  young,  and  are  easily  approached  by  the  hunters.  When  the  females 
leave  the  islands  to  feed,  they  will  go  very  fast  to  the  iishing  banks,  and  after  they 
get  their  food  they  will  go  to  sleep  on  the  waters.  That  is  the  hunter's  great  chance. 
I  think  we  secure*more  in  proportion  to  the  number  killed  than  we  did  in  the  North 
Pacific.  I  hunted  with  shotgun  and  rifle,  but  mostly  with  shotgun.  Seals  were  not 
nearly  as  numerous  in  1887  as  they  were  in  1877,  and  it  is  my  belief  that  the  decrease 
in  numbers  is  due  to  the  hunting  and  killing  of  female  seals  in  the  water.  I  do  not 
think  it  possible  for  seals  to  exist  for  any  length  of  time  if  the  present  slaughter 
continues.  The  killing  of  the  female  means  death  to  her  born  or  unborn  pup,  and  it 
is  not  reasonable  to  expect  that  this  immense  drain  on  the  herds  can  be  continued 
without  a  very  rapid  decrease  in  their  numbers,  and  which  practically  means  exter- 
mination within  a  very  few  years. 

Christ  Clausen  says: 

The  Indian  hunters,  when  they  use  spears,  saved  nearly  every  one  they  struck. 
It  is  my  observation  and  experience  that  an  Indian  or  a  white  hunter,  unless  very 
expert,  will  kill  and  destroy  many  times  more  than  he  will  save  if  he  uses  firearms. 
It  is  our  object  to  take  them  when  asleep  on  the  water,  and  any  attempt  to  capture 
a  breaching  seal  generally  ends  in  failure.  The  seals  we  catch  along  the  coast  are 
nearly  all  pregnant  females.  It  is  seldom  we  capture  an  old  bull,  and  what  males 
we  get  are  usually  young  ones.  I  have  frequently  seen  cow  seals  cut  open  and  unborn 
pups  cut  out  of  them,  and  they  would  live  for  several  days.  This  is  a  frequent 
occurrence.  It  is  my  experience  that  fully  85  per  cent  of  the  seals  I  took  in  Bering 
Sea  were  females  and  had  given  birth  to  their  pups,  and  their  teats  would  be  full  of 
milk.  I  have  caught  seals  of  this  kind  100  to  150  miles  from  Pribilof  Islands.  It  is 
my  opinion  that  spears  should  be  used  in  hunting  seals,  and  if  they  are  to  be  kept 
from  extermination  the  shotgun  should  be  discarded. 

George  Dishow  says : 

I  use  a  shotgun  exclusively  for  taking  seals.  Old  hunters  lose  but  very  few  seals, 
but  beginners  lose  a  great  many.  I  use  the  Parker  shotgun.  A  large  proportion  of 
all  seals  taken  are  females  with  pup.  I  never  examined  them  as  to  sex.  But  very 
few  old  bulls  are  taken,  only  five  being  taken  out  of  a  total  of  900  seals  taken  by  my 
schooner.  Use  no  discrimination  in  killing  seal,  but  shoot  everything  that  comes 
near  the  boat  in  the  shape  of  a  seal.  Hunters  shoot  seal  in  the  most  exposed  part  of 
the  body.  Have  never  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water,  nor  on  the  land  on 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  217 

the  coast  of  Alaska  an\  \vlicn-  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.  H:ivo  never  known 
fur  ><-ul  to  haul  up  on  the  land  any  \vhcre  on  the  coast  except  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
Most  of  the  seals  taken  in  Bering  Sea  are  females.  Have  taken  them  70  miles  from 
the  islands  that  were  full  of  milk.  1  think  a  closed  season  should  be  established  for 
breeding  seal  from  .January  1  to  August  15  in  the  North  1'acitic  Ocean  and  liering 
>e;i. 

George  Faircliild  says : 

Most  of  them  were  cows,  nearly  all  of  which  had  pups  in  them.  We  took  some  of 
the  pups  alive  out  of  the  bodies  of  the  females.  We  entered  Bering  Sea  May  25, 
and  we  got  704  seals  in  there,  the  greater  quantity  of  which  were  females  with  their 
breasts  full  of  milk,  a  fact  which  I  know  by  reason  of  having  seen  the  milk  flow  on 
the  deck  when  they  were  being  skinned.  We  had  five  boats  on  board,  each  boat 
having  a  hunter,  boat  puller,  and  steerer.  We  used  shotguns  and  rilies.  We  got 
one  out  of  every  five  or  six  that  we  killed  or  wounded.  We  wounded  a  great  many 
that  we  did  not  get.  We  caught  them  from  10  to  50  miles  ott'  the  seal  islands. 

Normaii  Hodgson  says: 

I  do  not  think  it  possible  for  fur  seals  to  breed  or  copulate  in  water  at  sea,  and 
never  saw  nor  heard  of  the  action  taking  place  on  a  batch  of  floating  kelp.  I  have 
never  seen  a  young  fur-seal  pup  of  the  same  season's  birth  in  the  water  at  sea  nor 
on  a  patch  of 'floating  kelp,  and,  in  fact,  never  knew  of  their  being  born  anywhere 
save  on  a  rookery.  I  have,  however,  cut  open  a  gravid  cow  and  taken  the  young 
one  from  its  mother's  womb  alive  and  crying.  I  do  not  believe  it  possible  for  a  fur 
seal  to  be  successfully  raised  unless  born  and  nursed  on  a  rookery.  I  have  seen  fur 
seals  resting  on  patches  of  floating  kelp  at  sea,  but  do  not  believe  they  ever  haul  up 
for  breeding  purposes  anywhere  except  on  rookeries. 

Captain  Tanner,  lieutenant-commander  in  the  United  States  Navy, 
makes  a  deposition  which  is  entitled  to  particular  consideration.  The 
following  is  a  short  extract: 

Seals  killed  in  Bering  Sea  after  the  birth  of  pups  are  largely  mother  sea's,  and  the 
farther  they  are  found  from  the  islands  the  greater  the  percentage  will  be.  The  rea- 
son for  this  seeming  paradox  is  very  simple.  The  young  males,  having  no  family 
responsibilities,  can  afford  to  hunt  nearer  home,  where  food  can  be  found  if  sufficient 
time  is  devoted  to  the  search.  The  mother  does  not  leave  her  young  except  when 
necessity  compels  her  to  seek  food  for  its  sustenance.  She  can  not  afford  to  waste 
time  on  feeding  grounds  already  occupied  by  younger  and  more  active  feeders,  hence 
she  makes  the  best  of  her  way  to  richer  fields  farther  away,  gorges  herself  with  food,  • 
then  seeks  rest  and  a  quiet  nap  on  the  surface.  Under  these  circumstances  she  sleeps 
soundly,  and  becomes  an  easy  victim  to  the  watchful  hunter. 

A  double  waste  occurs  wlien  the  mother  seal  is  killed,  as  the  pups  will  surely 
starve  to  death.  A  mother  seal  will  give  sustenance  to  no  pup  but  her  own.  1  saw 
sad  evidences  of  this  waste  on  St.  Paul  last  season,  where  large  numbers  of  pups 
were  lying  about  the  rookeries,  where  they  had  died  of  starvation. 

DECREASE  OF  SEALS 

EXCESSIVE   KILLING   THE   ADMITTED    CAUSE. 

We  find  that  since  the  Alaska  purchase  a  marked  diminution  in  the 
number  of  seals  on  and  habitually  resorting  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  has 
taken  place;  that  it  has  been  cumulative  in  effect,  and  that  it  is  the 
result  of  excessive  killing  by  man.  (Joint  report  of  United  States  and 
British  Bering  Sea  commissioners.) 

PELAGIC   SEALING   THE   SOLE  CAUSE. 

Opinions  of  American  commissioners. 

Having  answered  the  first  of  the  two  queries  relating  to  conditions 
of  seal  life  at  the  present  time,  the  second  becomes  important.  It  is: 
Has  the  decrease  in  number  been  confined  to  any  particular  class  of 
seals,  or  is  it  most  notable  in  any  class  or  classes?  In  answer  to  this, 
it  is  our  opinion  that  the  diminution  in  numbers  began  and  continues 
to  be  most  notable  in  female  seals.  (Report  of  American  commissioners.) 


218  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  sufficient  evidence  to  convince  us  that 
by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  seals  taken  at  sea  are  females ;  indeed, 
we  have  yet  to  meet  with  any  evidence  to  the  contrary.  The  state- 
ments of  those  who  have  had  occasion  to  examine  the  catch  of  pelagic 
sealers  might  be  quoted  to  almost  any  extent  to  the  effect  that  at  least 
80  per  cent  of  the  seals  thus  taken  are  females.  On  one  occasion  we 
examined  a  pile  of  skins  picked  out  at  random,  and  which  we  have 
every  reason  to  believe  was  a  part  of  a  pelagic  catch,  and  found  them 
nearly  all  females.  When  the  sealers  themselves  are  not  influenced  by 
the  feeling  that  they  are  testifying  against  their  own  interests,  they 
give  similar  testimony.  The  master  of  the  sealing  schooner  J.  G.  Stcan 
declared  that  in  the  catch  of  1890,  when  he  secured  several  hundred 
seals,  the  proportion  of  females  to  males  was  about  four  to  one,  and  on 
one  occasion  in  a  lot  of  60  seals,  as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  he  counted  the 
number  of  females  with  young,  finding  47.  (Report  of  American  com- 
missioners.) 

The  decrease  in  the  number  of  seals  is  the  result  of  the  evil  effects 
of  pelagic  sealing.  (Report  of  American  commissioners.) 

Opinion  of  Dr.  Allen. 

From  the  foregoing  summary  it  is  evident  that  the  decline  in  the 
number  of  the  killable  seals  at  the  Pribilof  rookeries  and  the  immense 
decrease  in  the  total  number  of  seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  are  not 
due  to  any  change  in  the  management  of  the  seal  herd  at  the  islands, 
but  to  the  direct  and  unquestionably  deleterious  effects  of  pelagic  seal- 
ing. At  the  islands  the  killing  is  regulated  with  reference  to  the  num- 
ber of  killable  seals  on  the  rookeries,  the  designated  quota  is  limited 
to  nonbreeding  young  males,  and  every  seal  killed  is  utilized.  The 
killing,  as  thus  regulated,  does  not  impair  the  productiveness  of  the 
rookeries.  In  pelagic  sealing  the  slaughter  is  indiscriminate  and  unlim- 
ited, and  a  large  proportion  of  the  seals  killed  are  lost.  The  catch  also 
consists  almost  wholly  of  breeding  females,  which  at  the  time  of  cap- 
ture are  either  heavy  with  young  or  have  young  on  the  rookeries 
depending  upon  them  for  sustenance.  Thus  two  or  more  seals  are 
destroyed  to  every  one  utilized,  and  nearly  all  are  drawn  from  the  class 
on  which  the  very  existence  of  the  seal  herd  depends.  (Article  by  Dr. 
J.  A.  Allen.) 

Opinions  of  experts. 

I  have  always  taken  a  great  interest  in  the  sealing  industry  and  felt 
a  great  desire 'to  have  them  protected  from  destruction,  and  I  say  with- 
out hesitation  that  the  great  decrease  in  the  number  now  annually 
arriving  at  the  seal  islands  is  due  entirely  to  the  killing  of  female  seals 
by  pelagic  sealers.  (George  Adams.) 

From  my  general  knowledge  of  natural  history,  from  my  study  of  the 
habits  of  seals,  as  well  as  from  the  opportunities  I  have  had  to  acquaint 
myself  with  the  sources  of  destruction  which  are  at  work,  I  firmly 
believe  that  pelagic  sealing  would  not  only  account  for  the  diminution 
of  the  seal  herd,  but  if  continued  the  seals  will  inevitably  be  commer- 
cially destroyed.  (A.  B.  Alexander.) 

I  believe  there  has  been  a  great  decrease  of  seals  on  the  islands 
since  I  left  there,  and  this  is  no  doubt  due  to  pelagic  sealing.  (James 
Armstrong.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  21 0 

My  people  wondered  why  this  was  so,  and  no  one  could  tell  until  we 
learned  that  hunters  in  schooners  were  shooting  and  destroying  them 
in  the  sea.  Then  we  knew  what  the  trouble  was,  for  we  knew  the  seal* 
they  killed  and  destroyed  must  be  cows,  for  most  all  the  males  remain 
on  or  near  the  islands  until  they  go  away  in  the  fall  or  fore  part  of  the 
winter.  We  also  noticed  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  that  had  been 
starved  to  death.  If  they  had  not  killed  the  seals  in  the  sea  there 
would  be  as  many  on  the  rookeries  as  there  was  ten  years  ago.  There 
was  not  more  than  one  fourth  as  many  seals  in  1891  as  there  was  in  1880. 
We  understand  the  danger  there  is  in  the  seals  being  all  killed  off  and 
that  we  will  have  no  way  of  earning  our  living.  There  is  not  one  of  us- 
but  what  believes  if  they  had  not  killed  them  off  by  shooting  them  in 
the  water  there  would  be  as  many  seals  on  the  islands  now  as  there  was 
in  1880,  and  we  could  go  on  forever  taking  100,000  seals  on  the  two- 
islands;  but  if  they  get  less  as  fast  as  they  have  in  the  last  five  or  six 
years  there  will  be  none  left  in  a  little  while.  (Kerrick  Artomanoff.) 

Upon  examining  the  Bering  Sea  catch  for  1891,  as  based  upon  the 
records  of  the  Victoria  custom-house,  I  ascertained  that  nearly  30,000 
seals  had  been  taken  by  the  British  fleet  alone  in  Bering  Sea  during 
the  summer  of  1891.  When  there  is  added  to  this  the  catch  of  the 
American  vessels,  the  dead  pups  upon  the  rookeries,  and  allowances 
made  for  those  that  are  killed  and  not  recovered,  we  have  a  catch  whicb 
will  not  only  nearly  reach  in  numbers  the  quota  of  male  seals  allowed  to 
be  taken  upon  the  islands  in  years  gone  by,  but  we  have  a  catch  in  the 
securing  of  which  destruction  has  fallen  most  heavily  upon  the  produc- 
ing females.  This  is  borne  out  by  a  further  fact.  The  young  bachelor 
seals  can  lie  idly  on  the  hauling  grounds  and  through  the  peculiarities 
of  their  physical  economy  sustain  life  with  a  small  supply  of  food,  but 
the  cows  must  range  the  ocean  iu  search  of  nourishment  that  they  may 
meet  the  demands  made  upon  them  by  their  young.  That  seals  go  a 
great  distance  from  the  islands  1  know  from  personal  observation,  for 
we  saw  them  120  miles  to  the  northward  of  the  island  on  the  way  to 
Nunival.  That  the  females  outnumber  the  males  ten  to  one  is  well 
known,  otherwise  the  hauling  ground  would  present  such  an  array  of 
killable  seals  that  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  the  Government  to- 
suspend  the  annual  quota.  It  inevitably  follows  that  the  females  are 
the  class  most  preyed  upon  in  Bering  Sea.  No  class  of  animals  which 
bring  forth  but  a  single  offspring  annually  can  long  sustain  itself 
against  the  destruction  of  the  producers.  As  a  result  of  my  investiga- 
tion I  believe  that  the  destruction  of  females  was  carried  to  the  point, 
in  about  1885,  where  the  birth  rate  could  not  keep  up  the  necessary 
supply  of  mothers,  and  that  the  equilibrium  being  once  destroyed  and 
the  drain  upon  the  producing  class  increasing  from  year  to  year  from 
that  date,  the  present  depleted  condition  of  the  rookeries  has  resulted 
directly  therefrom.  (J.  Stanley-Brown.) 

When  we  first  noticed  that  the  seals  on  the  rookeries  were  not  so 
many  as  they  used  to  be,  we  did  not  know  what  was  wrong,  but  by  and 
by  we  found  that  plenty  of  schooners  came  into  the  sea  and  shot  seals, 
and  we  often  found  bullets  and  shot  in  seals  when  we  were  skinning 
them.  And  then  we  found  plenty  of  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries,  more 
and  more  every  year,  until  last  year  (1891),  when  there  were  so  many  the 
rookeries  were  covered  with  them,  and  when  the  doctor  (Akerly)  opened 
some  of  them  there  was  no  milk  or  food  in  their  stomachs.  Then  we 
all  knew  the  cows  had  been  shot  when  they  went  into  the  sea  to  feed, 
and  the  pups  died  because  they  had  nothing'to  eat.  Plenty  of  schooners 


220  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

came  first  about  eight  or  nine  years  ago,  and  more  and  more  every  year 
since,  and  the  seals  get  less  and  less  ever  since  schooners  came;  and 
my  people  kept  saying  "No  cows,"  "Xo  cows.7'  First  the  cows  get  less 
and  then  the  bachelors  get  less,  and  the  company  agent  he  says  "kill 
smaller  seals,7'  and  we  kill  some  whose  skins  weigh  only  4|  pounds, 
instead  of  7  pounds,  same  as  they  always  got.  Then  we  coufd  not  get 
enough  of  seals  and  at  last  we  could  hardly  get  enough  for  meat. 
Schooners  kill  cows,  pups  die,  and  seals  are  gone.  (Karp  Buterin.) 

The  cause  of  this  decrease  I  believe  to  be  due  to  the  promiscuous 
killing  of  the  seals  by  hunters  in  the  open  sea  and  the  disturbance 
caused  by  their  presence  in  destroying  the  mother  seals  and  scattering 
the  herds.  (James  H.  Douglass.) 

I  know  of  no  other  cause  for  the  decrease  than  that  of  the  killing  of 
the  cows  at  sea  by  the  pelagic  hunters,  which  I  believe  must  be  pro- 
hibited if  the  Alaskan  fur  seal  is  to  be  saved  from  total  destruction. 
(C.  L.  Fowler.) 

In  my  opinion  pelagic  sealing  is  the  cause  of  redriving  on  the  islands, 
the  depletion  of  the  rookeries,  and  promises  to  soon  make  the  Alaska 
fur-seal  herd  a  thing  of  the  past.  If  continued  as  it  is  to-day,  even  if 
killing  on  the  islands  was  absolutely  forbidden,  the  herd  will  in  a  few 
years  be  exterminated.  (Charles  J.  Go  ft'.) 

During  my  visit  to  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  for  the  last 
twenty  years  I  have  carefully  noticed  that  those  islands  were  visited 
by  great  herds  of  fur  seals  during  the  breeding  season,  and  that, 
although  100,000  male  seals  were  taken  annually  at  the  islands  by  the 
lessees,  no  perceptible  diminution  in  their  numbers  was  noticeable  until 
within  the  past  few  years,  when  the  killing  of  seals  in  the  open  sea  on 
the  part  of  fishing  vessels  became  prevalent,  since  which  time  there 
has  been  a  very  perceptible  diminution  in  the  number  of  seals  seen  in 
the  water  of  Bering  Sea  and  hauling  grounds  on  the  islands.  This 
decrease  has  become  alarmingly  sudden  in  the  last  three  or  four  years, 
due,  I  believe,  to  the  ruthless  and  indiscriminate  methods  of  destruc- 
tion employed  by  vessels  in  taking  female  seals  in  the  open  sea.  (Capt. 
M.  A.  Healey.) 

I  made  the  conditions  of  seal  life  a  careful  study  for  years,  and  I  am 
firmly  of  the  opinion  their  decrease  in  number  on  the  Pribilof  Islands 
is  due  wholly  and  entirely  to  hunting  and  killing  them  in  the  open  sea. 
{W.  S.  Hereford.) 

When  in  1886  we  all  saw  the  decrease  of  seals  upon  the  hauling 
grounds  and  rookeries,  we  asked  each  other  what  was  the  cause  of  it, 
but  when  we  learned  that  white  men  were  shooting  seals  in  the  water 
with  guns  we  knew  what  was  the  matter;  we  knew  that  if  they  killed 
seals  in  the  water  that  they  must  be  nearly  all  females  that  were  going 
out  to  feed,  for  the  males  stay  on  the  islands  until  they  get  ready  to  go 
away  in  the  fall  or  winter.  It  was  among  the  cows  we  first  noticed  the 
decrease,  and  as  we  never  kill  the  cows  on  the  islands,  we  knew  they 
must  be  killing  them  in  the  water.  (Aggei  Kushen.) 

There  can  be  no  question,  in  my  opinion,  about  the  ultimate  result  to 
the  rookeries  of  marine  sealing.  If  it  is  continued  as  it  has  been  for 
the  last  two  or  three  years,  the  seals  will  be  so  nearly  wiped  out  of  exist- 
ence in  a  short  time  as  to  leave  nothing  to  quarrel  about,  and  an  article 
of  commerce  that  has  afforded  a  vast  amount  of  comfort  and  satisfac- 
tion to  a  large  class  of  wearers  and  a  large  income  to  both  American 
and  Brjtish  merchants  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past.  (Isaac  Liebes.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  221 

1  am  convinced  that  the  decrease  in  the  rookeries  was  caused  entirely 
by  open-sea  sealing.  (Abial  P.  Loud.) 

There  were  no  destructive  agencies  at  work  upon  the  island  that 
would  not  have  left  the  rookeries  in  better  condition  in  1890  than  they 
were  in  1870.  I'ntil  the  effects  of  the  true  agent  of  destruction  began 
to  be  manifest  there  was  an  excess  of  male  lite  on  the  islands  sullicient 
to  permit  of  an  annual  catch  of  100.000  seals  for  an  indefinite  period 
without  jeopardizing  the  rookeries.  If  it  be  remembered  that  the,  seals 
taken  in  the  waters  by  hunters  are  chietly  females,  that  their  young- 
die  with  them,  and  that  all  of  those  killed  are  not  secured,  and  if  then 
an  examination  be  made  of  the  pelagic  skins  actually  sold  during  the 
past  twenty  years,  the  real  source  of  the  depletion  of  the  rookeries  will 
be  found.  In  my  judgment  such  depletion  was  caused  by  pelagic  seal- 
ing, and  that  it  grew  greater  from  year  to  year,  as  the  number  of 
so-called  poaching  schooners  increased,  and  that  its  effects  began  to 
manifest  themselves  about  1885  or  1886.  The  depletion  on  both  haul- 
ing and  breeding  grounds  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  catch 
of  said  sealers  consists  of  at  least  85  per  cent  cows.  Said  cows,  when 
taken  in  the  North  Pacific,  are  in  the  majority  of  cases  with  pups,  and 
in  Bering  Sea  are  so-called  milking  females.  Whenever  a  milking  cow 
is  killed,  her  pup  on  the  rookeries  dies  of  starvation.  In  support  of 
this  fact  last  stated,  the  number  of  dead  pups  during  the  last  four  years 
I  was  upon  the  islands  increased  annually.  The  effect  of  the  compara- 
tively few  raids  upon  the  rookeries  themselves,  while  injurious,  bear 
but  a  small  ratio  to  the  enormous  damage  done  by  the  pelagic  hunting. 
Those  in  charge  of  the  islands  did  not,  when  the  decrease  on  the  rook- 
eries commenced,  know  exclusively  the  cause  thereof.  My  opinion  then 
was  that  it  was  caused  by  pelagic  sealing,  but  I  had  been  informed 
and  believed  that  the  United  States  Government  intended  to  seize  all 
such  poaching  vessels.  Relying  upon  such  information  I  authorized 
the  taking  of  seals  as  before.  The  proper  protection  of  seal  life  was 
not  fully  carried  out  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  by  reason  of 
England's  interference,  and  the  rookeries  were  thus  depleted.  (H.  H. 
Mclntyre.) 

Froni  statements  made  by  personal  acquaintances  and  friends,  I 
became  aware  of  a  rapid  decrease  in  seal  life  in  Alaska,  and  reports  of 
pelagic  sealing,  as  made  public  through  the  press,  combined  with  pre- 
vious personal  affairs  as  existing  prior  to  1882,  leaves  no  possible  doubt 
as  to  the  cause  of  such  decrease  of  seals.  Pelagic  sealing  as  practiced 
prior  to  the  year  1882  had  no  apparent  effect  upon  seal  life,  and  even 
when  to  this  was  added  the  taking  of  a  definite  number  year  after  year 
under  lease  from  the  United  States  Government,  there  was  still  a  con- 
stant increase  of  seals  observed.  I  am,  therefore,  fully  confirmed  in 
the  belief  that  the  decrease  in  their  numbers  is  due  solely  to  the  indis- 
criminate killing  at  sea  of  all  ages,  regardless  of  sex,  as  practiced  since 
1884.  (H.  W.  Mclutyre.) 

The  seals  have  rapidly  decreased  since  sealing  vessels  appeared,  but 
before  the  inroads  of  these  seal  hunters  there  was  no  trouble  in  obtain- 
ing the  full  quota  of  the  best  grades  of  skins,  as  the  herds  previous  to 
that  time  had  been  noticeably  increasing.  (John  Malowansky.) 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  seals  on 
the  rookeries? — A.  To  the  great  number  of  cows  killed  by  poachers, 
and  consequently  less  pups  are  born  on  the  rookeries. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that  cows  have  been  killed  by  poachers? — A. 
I  have  handled  and  seen  a  great  number  of  skins  captured  by  the  rev- 


222  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

€ime  cutters  from  the  poaching  vessels,  and  there  were  very  few  male 
skins  among  them;  also  have  seen  among  them  a  great  number  of 
unborn  pups.  Twice  upon  the  rookeries  I  have  seen  cows  killed  and 
left  there  by  the  poachers.  (Anton  Melovedoff.j 

I  know  of  no  other  explanation  than  this:  The  cows  are  shot  and 
killed  when  they  go  into  the  sea  to  feed  and  the  pups  die  on  the  rook- 
eries. This,  I  think,  is  the  true  solution  of  the  vexed  question,  "What 
has  become  of  the  seals?"  (Anton  Melovedoff.) 

Since  1883,  however,  there  is  said  to  have  occurred  a  very  material 
diminution  of  the  seal  life  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  due,  as  it  is  claimed, 
to  a  large  and  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  these  animals  in  the  waters 
of  Bering  Sea  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  cause  assigned  for  this  loss 
is  undoubtedly  the  true  one.  If  no  other  proof  were  forthcoming  in 
relation  to  it,  the  large  display  of  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  would  in 
itself  furnish  all  the  evidence  required.  Such  diminution  could  not, 
in  my  opinion,  be  the  result  of  the  yearly  slaughter  of  skins.  It  is 
shown  that  an  appreciable  expansion  of  the  rookeries  took  place  after 
twelve  or  fourteen  years  of  such  slaughter,  and  I  think  this  fact 
conclusively  demonstrates  that  the  number  of  seals  which  the  law  per- 
mitted to  be  killed  each  year  was  not  greater  than  the  known  condi- 
tions of  the  seal's  life  would  safely  warrant.  (J.  M.  Morton.) 

From  the  experience  gained,  and  observations  made,  during  three 
killing  seasons;  from  the  information  gleaned  from  men  who  have 
devoted  their  lives  to  the  practical  side  of  the  seal  question,  and  from 
the  books  and  reports  in  the  Government  offices  on  the  islands,  I  am 
able  to  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  there  is  only  one  great  cause  of  the  de- 
crease of  the  fur  seal,  and  that  is  the  killing  of  the  females  by  pelagic 
hunting.  (Joseph  Murray.) 

I  believe  this  decrease  is  owing  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  engaged 
in  hunting  the  fur  seal  at  sea,  and  the  indiscriminate  methods  employed 
by  these  sealing  vessels  in  taking  skins.  (Arthur  Newman.) 

The  practice  of  pelagic  seal  hunting  was  followed  by  the  Northwest 
Coast  Indians  from  their  earliest  history,  but  amounted  to  so  little  as 
to  be  inappreciable  on  the  islands.  Even  after  white  hunters  engaged 
in  it  in  a  limited  way  our  losses  from  this  source  were  attributed  to  the 
marine  enemies  of  the  seals,  and  was  so  far  overcome  by  the  good  man- 
agement of  the  islands  as  to  permit  the  growth  of  the  herd  to  continue 
so  long  as  it  was  limited  to  a  few  vessels  and  confined  to  the  vicinity  of 
the  Oregon,  Washington,  and  British  Columbian  coasts.  But  even 
before  any  considerable  slaughter  had  taken  place  in  the  waters  of 
Bering  Sea.  as  early  as  1882,  it  was  noticed  that  the  rookeries  had 
stopped  expanding,  though  they  were  treated  in  every  way  as  they 
always  had  been.  An  examination  of  the  London  Catalogue  of  seal-skin 
sales  shows  that  the  "  Victoria  catch  "  already  aggregated  a  very  con- 
siderable number  of  skins,  and  now  brings  home  the  conviction  that 
pelagic  sealing,  when  confined  almost  wholly  to  the  Pacific,  is  still  a 
very  dangerous  enemy  of  seal  life  on  the  islands.  After  1886  the  force 
of  pelagic  hunters  was  greatly  augmented,  and  became  more  and  more 
aggressive,  until  they  appeared  in  alarming  numbers  in  Bering  Sea  in 
1884  and  1885.  In  1887  we  were  forced  to  commence  taking  smaller 
skins  in  order  to  obtain  our  quota  and  preserve  enough  breeding  bulls. 
In  1888  they  were  still  smaller,  while  in  1889  more  than  half  of  them 
were  such  as  we  would  not  have  killed  in  former  years ;  and  we  called  the 
attention  of  the  Treasury  Department  to  the  evident  diminution  of  seal 


SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  223 

life,  and  recommended  that  fewer  seals  be  killed  in  future.  There  can 
be  no  question  as  to  the  cause  of  the  diminution.  It  is  the  direct  result 
of  pelagic  sealing,  and  the  same  destruction,  if  continued  a  few  years 
longer,  will  entirely  dissipate  any  commercial  value  in  the  rookeries,  if 
it  does  not,  indeed,  annihilate  them.  (Gustave  Niebaum.) 

In  my  opinion  the  solution  of  the  problem  is  plain.  It  is  the  shotgun 
and  the  ritie  of  the  pelagic  hunter  which  are  so  destructive  to  the  cow 
seals  as  they  go  backward  and  forward  to  the  fishing  banks  to  supply 
the  waste  caused  by  giving  nourishment  to  their  young.  At  this  time 
they  are  destroyed  by  thousands,  and  their  young  of  but  a  few  weeks 
old  must  necessarily  die  of  starvation,  for  nature  has  provided  no  other 
means  of  subsistence  for  them  at  this  time  of  life.  (L.  A.  Noyes.) 

Q.  How  do  you  account  for  it? — A.  By  the  numbers,  principally 
females,  that  are  killed  in  the  waters  by  marauders.  (J.  C.  Eedpath.) 

I  saw  no  diminution  of  seal  life  during  my  three  years  on  the  island. 
The  outlines  of  the  rookeries  remained  just  about  the  same  from  year 
to  year.  I  was  told  at  the  time  that  there  had  formerly  been  a  large 
increase,  and  did  not  then  understand  why  it  did  not  continue,  as  every 
condition  seemed  favorable  for  it.  "there  were,  apparently,  an  abun- 
dance of  bulls  for  service;  every  cow  seemed  to  have  a  pup,  and  all 
were  healthy  and  in  good  condition.  No  females  were  killed,  and  in  the 
natural  order  of  growth  there  ought  to  have  been  at  this  time  a  con- 
stantly increasing  area  covered  with  breeding  rookeries.  Yet  such  was 
not  the  case.  The  explanation  of  the  matter  came  later,  when  we  fairly 
awoke  to  the  fact  that  our  animals  were  being  slaughtered  by  tens  of 
thousands  in  the  North  Pacific.  I  knew  in  a  commercial  way  from  our 
sales  catalogue  that  a  very  large  number  of  "  Victoria  skins,"  as  they 
were  called,  were  being  sent  to  market,  and  that  this  number  grew  con- 
stantly larger;  but  I  did  not  then  know,  as  I  now  do,  that  each  skin 
sold  represented  a  waste  of  two  or  three  and  perhaps  even  four  or  five 
seals  to  obtain  it.  Nor  was  any  attention  given  to  the  now  well-known 
fact  that  these  animals  were  a  part  of  our  herd  as  wrongfully  stolen 
from  us,  I  believe,  as  my  cattle  would  be  if  driven  in  and  appropriated 
from  the  highway  when  lawfully  feeding.  (Leon  Sloss.) 

Since  my  residence  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  I  have  kept  a  very  careful 
watch  of  the  progress  of  the  events  there,  and  have  interviewed  a  great 
many  connected  with  the  seal  industry.  I  am  of  the  conviction  that 
the  reported  decrease  in  seal  life  on  these  islands  can  be  attributed  to 
no  other  cause  save  pelagic  sealing.  While  I  was  located  at  St.  George 
Island  in  1881  pelagic  sealing  was  then  and  previous  to  that  time  had 
i  been  of  very  little  consequence,  having  very  slight  effect  upon  seal  life. 
Not  more  than  four  or  five  vessels  were  engaged  in  pelagic  sealing  in 
1881  in  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea,  and  prior  to  that  time  a  still  fewer 
number  were  so  engaged.  But  since  1881  this  industry  has  grown  yearly 
until  now  about  a  hundred  vessels  are  destroying  the  seals  in  great 
numbers,  and,  as  I  am  informed  and  believe,  the  great  majority  of  those 
killed  are  females.  Then,  too,  large  numbers  are  killed  in  this  way 
which  are  never  recovered  nor  reported.  (W.  B.  Taylor.) 

Scarcity  of  seal  can  be  attributed  to  no  other  cause  than  pelagic 
hunting  and  the  indiscriminate  shooting  of  seals  in  the  open  sea.  both 
in  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea.  (John  C.  Tolman.) 

I  am  sure  the  decrease  is  caused  by  the  killing  of  female  seals  in  the, 
open  sea,  and  that  if  their  destruction  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  in 


224  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

the  open  sea  is  permitted  to  continue  it  will  only  be  a  very  short  time 
until  the  herd  is  destroyed.     (Charles  T.  Wagner.) 

I  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  caused  by  the  killing  of  female  seals  in  the 
water,  and,  if  continued,  will  certainly  end  in  their  extermination. 
(M.  L.  Washburn.) 

I  am  convinced  that  if  open-sea  sealing  had  never  been  indulged  in 
to  the  extent  it  has  since  1885,  or  perhaps  a  year  or  two  earlier,  100,000 
male  skins  could  have  been  taken  annually  forever  from  the  Pribilof 
Islands  without  decreasing  the  seal  herd  below  its  normal  size  and  con- 
dition. The  cause  of  the  decrease  which  has  taken  place  can  be 
accounted  for  only  by  open-sea  sealing;  for,  until  that  means  of  destruc- 
tion to  seal  life  grew  to  be  of  such  proportions  as  to  alarm  those  inter- 
ested in  the  seals,  the  seal  herd  increased,  and  since  that  time  the 
decrease  of  the  number  of  seals  has  been  proportionate  to  the  increase 
in  the  number  of  those  engaged  in  open-sea  sealing.  From  1884  to 
1891  I  saw  their  numbers  decline,  under  the  same  careful  management, 
until  in  the  latter  year  there  was  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  their 
numbers  coming  to  the  islands.  In  my  judgment  there  is  but  one  cause 
for  that  decline  and  the  present  condition  of  the  rookeries,  and  that 
is  the  shotgun  and  rifle  of  the  pelagic  hunter,  and  it  is  my  opinion 
that  if  the  lessees  had  not  taken  a  seal  on  the  islands  for  the  last 
ten  years  we  would  still  find  the  breeding  grounds  in  about  the  same 
condition  as  they  are  to-day,  so  destructive  to  seal  life  are  the  methods 
adopted  by  these  hunters.  (Daniel  Webster.) 

Deponent,  by  reason  of  his  experience  in  the  business,  his  observa- 
tion, conversations  with  those  physically  engaged  in  catching  and  curing 
skins,  and  the  custody  of  herds  on  the  islands,  feels  justified  in  express- 
ing the  opinion  that  the  numbers  of  the  seal  herds  have,  since  the 
introduction  of  the  open-sea  sealing  on  a  large  scale,  suffered  serious 
diminution.  The  killing  of  large  numbers  of  females  heavy  with  young 
can  not,  in  deponent's  knowledge,  but  have  that  effect.  (C.  A.  Williams.) 

I  made  careful  inquiry  of  the  people  on  the  islands,  both  native  and 
white,  and  of  those  who  were  or  had  been  employed  as  masters  or  mates 
on  sealing  vessels,  and  others  interested  one  way  or  another  in  the  cap- 
ture of  fur  seals  for  food  or  for  profit,  and  failed  to  find  any  of  them  but 
who  admitted  that  the  number  of  seals  in  Bering  Sea  was  much  less 
now  than  a  few  years  since,  and  nearly  all  of  them  gave  it  as  their 
opinion  that  the  decrease  in  number  was  due  to  pelagic  hunting,  or,  as 
they  more  frequently  expressed  it,  the  killing  of  females  in  the  water. 
(W.  H.  Williams.) 

DECREASE   OF   THE   ALASKAN   SEAL   HERD. 

After  1882  they  seemed  to  stay  about  the  same,  as  far  as  the  number 
of  breeders  was  concerned,  as  long  as  I  was  there.  (John  Armstrong.) 

I  ascertained  by  questioning  those  who  had  years  of  continuous  expe- 
rience with  the  seals  that  up  to  the  year  1882  there  was  an  annual  expan- 
sion of  the  boundaries  of  the  breeding  grounds ;  that  this  was  followed 
by  a  period  of  stagnation,  which  in  turn  was  followed  by  a  marked 
decadence  from  about  1885-86  down  to  the  present  time.  ( J.  Stanley- 
Brown.) 

I  am  unable  to  state  whether  the  seals  increased  or  not  during  my 
residence  on  St.  Paul,  but  they  certainly  did  not  decrease,  except,  per- 
haps, there  was  a  slight  decrease  in  1884.  In  all  my  conversations  with 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  225 

the  natives — which  were,  of  course,  a  great  many — they  never  spoke  of 
the  seals  being  on  the  decrease,  as  they  certainly  would  have  done  if 
such  had  been  the  case.  (II.  A.  Glidden.) 

\Yhile  on  St.  Paul  I  do  not  think  the  number  of  seals  increased,  and 
in  the  last  year  (1884)  I  think  there  was  a  slight  decrease.  (J.  H. 
Moulton.) 

Upon  the  Commander  Islands,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  increase 
in  seal  life  was  constant  for  many  years,  but  in  1800  we  noticed  a 
decided  disturbance  in  the  rookeries  and  a  considerable  decrease  in 
their  population.  This  we  subsequently  attributed,  when  the  facts 
were  ascertained,  to  pelagic  sealing  in  the  adjacent  waters.  (Gustave 
Hiebaum.) 

I  noticed  during  this  period  no  perceptible  increase  in  the  breeding 
rookeries  on  St.  George.  (B.  F.  Scribner,  Treasury  agent.) 

ON   PRIBILOF   ISLANDS. 

In  1882  there  was  no  scarcity  of  ki liable  seals.  The  men  drove  up  as 
many  every  day  as  they  could  handle,  and  those  selected  for  killing 
comprised  only  the  choicest  ones.  (W.  C.  Allis.) 

There  seemed  to  be  also  a  large  surplus  of  full-grown  bulls  for  rook- 
ery service,  and  enough  escaped  from  the  slaughter  ground  to  keep  the 
number  good  as  the  old  ones  passed  the  age  of  usefulness.  I  do  not 
believe  the  condition  of  the  rookeries  nor  the  manner  of  driving  and 
killing  the  seals  at  this  time  could  have  been  improved.  It  was  perfect 
in  every  respect,  and.  the  lessees,  employees,  and  natives,  as  well  as  the 
seals,  all  appeared  to  be  and  were,  I  believe,  contented  and  happy.  In 
1880  the  conditions  had  somewhat  changed.  The  natives  complained 
that  big  seals  were  growing  scarcer;  that  there  were  many  dead  pups 
on  the  rookeries,  and  the  superintendent  intimated  to  me  that  he  did 
not  like  the  outlook  as  compared  with  a  few  years  previous,  and  said 
he  thought  either  the  number  killed  or  the  size  of  the  animals  taken 
for  their  skins  would  have  to  be  reduced  of  killable  seals,  and  the 
work  went  on  as  during  my  tirst  year  (1882)  in  the  service.  But  the 
trouble  of  which  they  complained  grew  more  serious  in  the  following 
years,  and  I  think  it  was  in  1888  the  superintendent  told  the  bosses 
they  must  kill  less  large  seals  and  more  "yellow  bellies,"  or  2-year-olds. 
In  1880  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  catch  was  made  up  of  this  class. 
It  was  then  perfectly  apparent  to  everybody,  myself  included,  that  the 
rookeries  were  "going  to  the  bad"  and  that  a  smaller  number  must 
inevitably  be  killed  the  following  year.  (W.  C.  Allis.) 

The  aggregate  size  of  the  areas  formerly  occupied  is  at  least  four 
times  as  great  as  that  of  the  present  rookeries.  (Report  of  American 
Bering  Sea  commissioners.) 

I  have  noticed  a  great  decrease  in  the  numbers  of  the  fur  seals  since 
1887,  both  on  the  rookeries  of  St.  Paul  Island,  which  are  much  shrunken 
in  the  area  covered  by  seals,  and  in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  and  Bering 
Sea.  On  the  rookeries,  ground  formerly  hauled  over  by  seals  is  now 
grown  up  with  a  scattering  of  recent  growth.  (C.  H.  Anderson.) 

The  skins  taken  prior  to  1886  weighed  from  6  to  10  pounds  each, 
averaging  about  8  pounds  per  skin;  but  I  understand  from  those  who 
remained  there  on  duty  that  much  smaller  ones  were  Barter  wards  taken, 
because  the  large  seals  had  become  scarce  and  were  needed  for  rookery 
service.  (John  Armstrong.) 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt-.  1 15 


226  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

From  1870  to  1884  the  seals  were  swarming  on  the  hauling  grounds 
and  the  rookeries,  and  for  many  years  they  spread  out  more  and  more. 
All  of  a  sudden,  in  1884,  we  noticed  there  was  not  so  many  seals,  and 
they  have  been  decreasing  very  rapidly  ever  since.  (KerrickArtomanoff.) 

There  are  not  nearly  as  many  seals  on  the  coast  as  there  were  two  or 
three  years  ago.  (Johnny  Barouovitch.) 

There  are  certain  physical  as  well  as  historical  sources  of  information 
upon  the  island  from  which  the  relation  of  the  present  to  the  past  con- 
dition of  the  rookeries  can  be  very  clearly  made  out. 

(1)  Not  only  upon,  but  immediately  to  the  rear  of,  the  area  at  present 
occupied  by  the  breeding  seals  occur  fragments  of  basalt  whose  angles 
have  been  rounded  and  polished  by  the  flippers  of  seals.    Among  these 
latter  rocks  grass  is  found  growing  to  an  extent  proportionate  to  their 
distances  from  the  present  breeding  grounds,  and  further,  the  soil 
shows  no  recent  disturbance  by  the  seals.     This  rounding  of  the  bowl- 
ders of  the  abandoned  areas  was  not  due  to  the  impingement  of  sand 
driven  by  the  wind.    No  geologist  would  be  willing  to  risk  his  reputa- 
tion by  asserting  that  this  rounding  came  from  any  such  agency.    The 
distinction  between  the  result  of  sand-blast  action  and  seals'  flippers 
is  very  marked. 

(2)  A  careful  examination  among  the  roots  of  the  grass  will  often 
show  the  former  presence  of  seal  by  the  peculiar  appearance  of  the  soil, 
due  to  the  excrementa  of  the  seal  and  the  occurrence  of  a  thin  mat  of 
seal  hair.     The  attention  of  Dr.  George  M.  Dawson  was  called  to  such 
a  felt  of  hair  upon  the  summit  of  Hutehiuson  Hill,  and  both  he  and 
Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  collected  specimens  of  it  from  among  the  grass 
roots  at  that  locality. 

(3)  At  the  rear  of  the  rookeries  there  is  usually  an  area  of  mixed 
vegetation — an  area  the  boundary  of  which  is  sharply  defined,  and 
between  which  and  the  present  breeding  grounds  occurs  a  zone  of 
grass  of  only  a  single  variety.     In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  pres 
ent  breeding  grounds  only  scanty  bunches  are  to  be  seen.    These 
gradually  coalesce  as  the  line  of  mixed  vegetation  is  approached.    The 
explanation  of  this  is  that  the  seals  were  formerly  so  abundant  as  to 
destroy  the  normal  mixed   vegetation   at  the  rear  of  the  breeding 
grounds,  and  that  the  decrease  of  the  seals  has  been  followed  by  the 
encroachment  of  the  uniform  variety  of  grass. 

(4)  The  statements  made  to  me  by  competent  observers  who  have 
lived  upon  the  islands  for  years  all  agree  that  the  shrinkage  in  the 
breeding  area  has  been  rapid  during  the  past  five  or  six  years. 

After  observing  the  habits  of  seals  for  a  season,  1  unhesiTatingly 
assert  that  to  satisfactorily  account  for  the  disturbance  to  vegetable 
life  over  areas  whose  extent  is  visible  even  to  the  most  careless  and 
prejudiced  of  observers,  would  require  the  presence  of  from  two  to  three 
times  the  amount  of  seal  life  which  is  now  to  be  found  upon  the  islands. 
That  there  has  been  enormous  decrease  in  the  seals  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion. (J.  Stanley-Brown.) 

Have  observed  carefully  the  areas  occupied  by  the  seals  on  the  rook- 
eries and  hauling-out  grounds,  especially  at  Northeast  Point  and  the 
Beef,  on  St.  Paul  Island,  in  1884, 1885, 1886,  and  1891,  and  on  both  rook- 
eries the  areas  formerly  occupied  by  seals  have  greatly  decreased,  so 
much  so  that  at  first  appearance  it  seemed,  in  1891,  as  if  the  hauling- 
out  grounds  had  been  entirely  deserted.  Subsequent  examination  dis- 
closed the  fact  that  this  was  not  strictly  true,  there  still  being  a  small 
number  of  male  seals  left  on  the  grounds.  Have  also  observed  that  the 


SEAL    LIFK    ON    THE    PRimLnl      ISLANDS.  227 

seals  an-  much  more  skittered  on  the  breeding  rookeries  than  ill  former 
years  1.SS4,  1SS.~>,  ISSU);  also  that  the  number  of  seals  in  the  water  has 
proportionately  decreased,  and  that  they  have  grown  very  much  more 
shy  and  difficult  to  approach.  Without  .presuming  to  be  absolutely  cor- 
rect, would  estimate  the  number  of  seals  present  at  St.  Paul  Island 
during  the year  1S91  to  about  10  percentof  the  number  there  in  former 
years  of  observation— 1884,  1SS5,  iss<>.  (John  C.  Oantwell.) 

I  did  not  notice  any  falling  olf  in  the  size  of  the  rookeries  from  the 
landmaiks  to  which  they  came  when  I  first  saw  them  during  the  first 
two  years  I  was  on  the  island,  and  all  agreed,  in  discussing  the  matter, 
that  the  seals  had  never  been  more  numerous  than  they  wTere;  but  in 
the  following  years,  and  particularly  in  1888  and  1889,  no  other  opinion 
was  heard  than  that  the  animals  had  greatly  diminished,  and  in  this 
opinion  1  fully  coincided.  (Henry  N.  Clark.) 

During  the  seasons  of  1890  and  1891, 1  was  in  command  of  the  revenue 
cutter  /I'M*//,  in  Bering  Sea,  and  cruised  extensively  in  those  waters 
around  the  seal  islands  and  the  Aleutian  group.  In  the  season  of  1890 
I  visited  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  in  the  months  of  July, 
August,  and  September,  and  had  ample  and  frequent  opportunities  of 
observing  the  seal  life  as  compared  with  1870.  I  was  astonished  at  the 
reduced  numbers  of  seals  and  the  extent  of  bare  groundon  the  rookeries 
once  teeming  with  seal  life.  In  1890  the  North  American  Commercial 
Company  were  unable  to  kill  seals  of  suitable  size  to  make  their  quota 
of  (>0,000  allowed  by  their  lease,  and  in  my  opinion,  had  they  been  per- 
mitted to  take  50,000  in  1891,  they  could  not  have  secured  that  number 
if  they  had  killed  every  bachelor  seal  with  a  merchantable  skin  on  both 
islands,  so  great  was  the  diminution  in  the  number  of  animals  found 
there.  (W.  C.  Coulson.) 

I  arrived  with  my  command  at  St.  Paul  Island  June  7, 1891.  At  that 
date  very  few  seals  had  arrived,  and  but  a  small  number  had  been  killed 
for  fresh  food.  On  the  12th  of  June,  1891,  we  were  at  St.  George  Island 
and  found  a  few  seals  had  been  taken  there,  also  for  food,  the  number 
of  seals  arriving  not  being  enough  to  warrant  the  killing  of  any  great 
number.  During  that  year  I  was  at  and  around  both  these  islands 
every  month  from  and  including  June  until  the  1st  day  of  December 
(excepting  October),  and  at  no  time  were  there  as  many  seals  in  sight 
as  in  1890.  I  assert  this  from  actual  observation,  and  it  is  my  opinion 
we  will  find  less  this  year.  (W.  C.  Coulson.) 

During  my  annual  cruising  in  Bering  Sea  and  to  and*from  thePribilof 
Islands  I  have  carefully  noted  the  number  and  appearance  of  seals  in 
the  water  and  on  the  breeding  rookeries  from  the  deck  of  my  vessel,  and 
have  also  repeatedly  visited  the  hauling  grounds  from  year  to  year,  and 
it  was  about  1884  and  1885  that  bare  spots  began  to  appear  on  the  rook- 
eries, so  much  so  that  myself  and  the  other  officers  often  spoke  of  it 
and  discussed  the  causes  therefor.  The  decrease  in  number  of  seals 
both  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  in  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea  and  North 
Pacific  lias  been  very  rapid  since  1885,  especially  so  in  the  last  three  or 
four  years,  and  it  is  my  opinion  that  there  is  not  now  more  than  one- 
third  of  the  number  of  seals  in  these  waters  and  on  the  islands  that 
there  were  ten  years  ago.  (Leander  Cox.) 

During  my  last  visits  to  the  islands  I  observed  a  very  marked  diminu- 
tion in  the  number  of  seals  thereon  as  contrasted  with  the  herd  on  the 
rookeries  five  or  six  years  previously.  I  am  familiar  with  the  area  and 
topography  of  the  various  rookeries  on  the  islands,  and  have  observed 


228  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

that  spaces  formerly  occupied  by  seal  herds  are  now  vacant  and  parts 
of  them  covered  with  grass.  This  diminution  was  particularly  notice 
able  in  1887  and  1888.  the  last  two  years"  visit  to  the  islands.  (James 
11.  Douglas.) 

For  many  years  prior  to  1890  1  have  observed  the  rookeries  from  my 
ship  and  also  from  the  islands.  The  first  decrease  in  the  number 
appearing  on  the  rookeries  and  in  the  surrounding  sea  that  I  particu 
larly  noticed  was  in  the  summer  of  1884,  and  it  has  become  more  marked 
from  year  to  year  since.  For  the  last  three  or  four  years  their  disap 
pearance  has  been  very  marked.  In  October,  1890,  I  made  a  trip  from 
Unalaska  to  St.  .Michaels.  When  about  20  miles  south  of  St.  George 
we  commenced  to  watch  for  seals  passing  the  Zapadnie  rookery  close 
inshore  along  the  west  end  of  St.  George  Island  to  Otter  Island  and 
Seal  Island  rock;  thence  to  Northeast  Point,  about  a  mile  and  a  hall 
offshore.  When  we  started,  I  requested  the  officers  to  keep  a  sharp 
lookout  and  to  report  if  they  saw  any  seals  in  the  water.  I  was  on 
deck  most  of  the  time  myself  also,  and  we  only  saw  two  seals  in  the 
whole  run;  whereas  ten  years  ago,  when  on  a  similar  voyage,  seals  were 
so  plentiful  that  it  was  impossible  to  count  them.  From  my  long  obser 
vation  I  do  not  think  there  are  as  many  seals  by  two-thirds  now  anuu 
ally  arriving  on  the  islands  or  in  those  waters  as  there  were  ten  years 
ago,  when  I  first  commenced  to  notice  that  they  were  decreasing.  B^ 
this  statement  I  mean  to  say  that  only  one-third  as  many  are  now  to  be 
seen  as  formerly.  (M.  C.  Erskine.) 

Seals  have  decreased  in  numbers  very  rapidly  in  the  last  few  years 
and  to  anyone  who  saw  the  breeding  rookeries  as  I  did  in  1880  the 
change  is  most  wonderful.  (0.  L.  Fowler.) 

It  was  on  the  breeding  rookeries  and  among  the  cows  that  I  firsl 
began  to  notice  the  decrease  in  seal  life,  and  I  do  not  think  there  were 
more  than  one-fourth  as  many  cows  on  the  breeding  rookeries  in  189] 
as  were  there  in  1887.  (C.  L.  Fowler.) 

I  have  been  a  resident  of  the  seal  islands  for  the  past  ten  years;  for 
merly  assistant  agent  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  now  agem 
of  the  North  American  Company,  and  during  that  time  was  engagec 
in  the  taking  of  seals.  I  have  listened  to  the  testimony  of  J.  C.  Red 
path,  as  above,  and  fully  concur  in  all  that  he  has  said  concerning  seal 
life,  with  the  exception  that  the  number  of  seals  on  the  islands  this 
season  are,  in  'my  judgment,  not  more  than  one- fourth  of  what  they 
were  in  1887.  (6.  L.  Fowler.) 

In  those  days  (from  1869  to  1882  or  1883)  we  used  to  get  plenty  o: 
seals  on  the  Zoltoi  sands  near  the  Eeef  rookery,  and  now  there  are 
none  there.  It  was  in  1884  that  I  first  noticed  a  decrease  in  the  seals 
and  it  has  been  a  steady  and  a  very  rapid  decrease  ever  since  1880,  sc 
that  at  present  there  are  not  one-fourth  as  many  seals  on  the  island  at 
there  was  every  year  from  1869  to  1883.  (John  Fratis.) 

In  1889  I  made  careful  observations  of  the  rookeries  on  St.  Pau 
Island  and  marked  out  the  areas  covered  by  the  breeding  grounds;  ir 
1890  I  examined  these  lines  made  by  me  the  former  year,  and  found  a 
very  great  shrinkage  in  the  spaces  covered  by  breeding  seals.  In  1£~" 
it  was  quite  difficult  for  the  lessees  to  obtain  their  full  quota  of  100,00( 
skins ;  so  difficult  was  it  in  fact,  that  in  order  to  turn  off  a  sum' cienl 
number  of  4  and  5  years  old  males  from  the  hauling  grounds  for  breed 
ing  purposes  in  the  future,  the  lessees  were  compelled  to  take  about 
50,000  skins  of  seals  of  1  or  2  years  of  age.  I  at  once  reported  thi 


SEAL    LIF1-:    OX    TI1K    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  229 

tact  to  tin*  Secretary  of  the-  Treasury,  and  advised  the  taking  of  a  less 
number  of  skins  the  following:  year.  Pursuant  to  such  report  the  ( lov- 
ernment  fixed  the  number  to  be  taken  as  (JO. 000,  and  further  ordered 
that  all  killing  of  seals  upon  the  islands  should  stop  after  the  liOth  day 
of  .July.  1  was  further  ordered  to  notify  the  natives  upon  t  lie Aleutian 
islands  that  all  killing  of  seals  while  coming  from  or  going  to  the  seal 
islands  was  prohibited.  These  rules  and  regulations  went  into  effect 
in  1  SIM),  and  pursuant  thereto  1  posted  notices  for  the  natives  at  various 
points  along  the  Aleutian  chain,  and  saw  that  the  orders  in  relation  to 
the  time  ot  killing  and  i. umber  allowed  to  be  killed  were  executed  upon 
the  islands.  As  a  result  of  the  enforcement  of  these  regulations,  the 
lessees  were  unable  to  take  more  than  21,1*  >s  seals  of  the  killable  age 
of  from  1  to  r>  years  during  the  season  of  1890,  so  great  had  been  the 
decrease  of  seal  life  in  one  year,  find  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
obtain  00,000  skins  even  if  the  time  had  been  unrestricted.  (Charles 
J.  Goff.) 

The  Table  A,  appended  to  this  affidavit,  shows  how  great  has  been 
the  decrease  on  St.  Paul  Island's  hauling  grounds,  bearing  in  mind  the 
fact  that  the  driving  and  killing  were  done  by  the  same  persons  as  in 
former  years,  and  were  as  diligently  carried  on,  the  weather  being  as 
favorable  as  in  1880  for  seal  driving.  I  believe  that  the  sole  causes  of 
the  decrease  is  pelagic  sealing,  which,  from  reliable  information,  I  under- 
stand to  have  increased  greatly  since  1884  or  1885.  Another  fact  I 
have  gained  from  reliable  sources  is  that  the  great  majority  of  the  seals 
taken  in  the  open  sea  are  pregnant  females  or  females  in  milk.  It  is 
an  unquestionable  fact  that  the  killing  of  these  females  destroys  the 
pups  they  are  carrying  or  nursing.  The  result  is,  that  this  destruction 
of  pups  takes  about  equally  from  the  male  and  female  increase  of  the 
herd,  and  when  so  many  male  pups  are  killed  in  this  manner,  besides 
the  ]  00,000  taken  o  the  islands,  it  necessarily  affects  the  number  of 
killable  seals.  I  n  1880  this  drain  upon  male  seal  life  showed  itself  on  the 
islands,  and  this,  in  my  opinion,  accounts  for  the  necessity  of  the  lessees 
taking  so  many  young  seals  that  year  to  fill  out  their  quota.  As  soon 
as  the  effects  of  pelagic,  sealing  were  noticed  by  me  upon  the  islands 
I  reported  the  same,  and  the  Government  at  once  took  steps  to  limit 
the  killing  upon  the  islands,  so  that  the  rookeries  might  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  increase  their  numbers  to  their  former  condition;  but  it  will 
be  impossible  to  repair  the  depletion  if  pelagic  sealing  continues.  I 
have  no  doubt,  as  1  reported,  that  the  taking  of  100.000  skins  in  1889 
affected  the  male  life  on  the  islands  and  cut  into  the  reserve  of  male 
seals  necessary  to  preserve  annually  for  breeding  purposes  in  the 
future,  but  this  fact  did  not  become  evident  until  it  was  too  late  to 
repair  the  fault  tha  t  year.  Except  for  the  numbers  destroyed  by  pelagic 
sealing  in  the  years  previous  to  18S9  the  hauling  grounds  would  not 
have  been  so  depleted,  and  the  taking  of  100,000  male  seals  would  not 
have  impaired  the  reserve  for  breeding  purposes  or  diminished  to  any 
extent  the  seal  life  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  Even  in  this  diminished 
state  of  the  rookeries  in  1889  I  carefully  observed  that  in  the  majority 
of  cases  the  4  and  5  year  old  males  were  allowed  to  drop  out  of  a 
Ff  drive"  before  the  bachelors  had  been  driven  any  distance  from  the 
hauling  grounds.  These  seals  were  let  go  for  the  sole  purpose  of  sup- 
plying sufficient  future  breeders.  (Charles  J.  Goff'.) 

I  believe  there  has  been  a  great  decrease  in  the  numbers  of  the  fur- 
s«';il  species.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  are  now  one  tenth  as  many 
fin  seals  frequenting  the  Pribilof  Islands  as  there  were  ten  years  ago. 


230  SEAL    LIFK    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Nine  or  ten  years  ago,  when  lying  off  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  the  fall, 
the  young1  seals  used  to  play  in  the  water  about  the  vessels  in  large 
numbers;  in  going  to  the  westward  in  the  month  of  May  many  seals 
were  always  to  be  seen  between  Tnalaska  and  the  Four  Mountain  islands. 
In  midsummer,  when  making  passages  between  Tnalaska  and  the  Pri- • 
bilof  Islands,  used  to  see  large  bodies  of  fur  seals  feeding;  they  were 
invariably  to  be  met  with  most  numerously  about  <iO  miles  northwest 
true  from  Unalaska,  and  from  there  up  to  and  from  the  feeding  grounds. 
When  last  I  visited  the  rookeries,  three  years  ago,  in  18S9,  I  noticed  a 

freat  shrinkage  in  the  area  covered  by  seals  on  the  rookeries.     (Charles 
.  Hague.) 

In  1880  and  1887  there  appeared  to  be  enough  seals,  and  the  men  were 
kept  pretty  steadily  at  work  after  the  first  few  days  of  the  season  until 
the  catch  was  completed.  Good  sized  skins  were  taken  in  these  years, 
and  there  was  no  trouble  in  getting  them,  but  large  seals  grew  very 
scarce  on  the  island  in  1888,  and  still  more  so  in  the  three  following 
years.  I  an  sure  the  size  of  the  rookeries  on  St.  Paul  Island  and  the 
number  of  seals  on  them  in  1891  were  less  than  one-half  their  si/e  and 
number  in  1S8(>.  (Alex.  Hansson.) 

Coincident  with  the  increase  of  hunting  seals  in  the  sea  there  was  an 
increase  in  the  death  rate  of  pup  seals  on  the  rookeries;  also  a  per- 
ceptible diminution  of  female  seals.  As  hunting  increased  it  became 
self  evident,  even  to  the  most  casual  observer,  that  the  rookeries  were 
becoming  devastated.  It  is  positively  a  fact  that  there  are  not  near  as 
many  seals  occupying  the  rookeries  now,  at  the  present  time,  as  there 
were  when  I  tirst  saw  the  islands.  The  vacant  spaces  on  the  breeding 
and  hauling  grounds  have  increased  in  size  from  year  to  year  since 
1884,  and  have  been  very  noticeable  for  the  last  four  or  five  years. 
When  I  first  went  to  the  seal  islands  the  seals  were  actually  increasing 
in  numbers  instead  of  diminishing.  Two  facts  presented  themselves 
to  me  later  on:  Fiist,  seals  were  arriving  each  year  in  diminished  num- 
bers; second,  at  the  same  time  that  the  female  seals  were  decreasing 
in  numbers  the  number  of  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  \\ere  increasing. 
The  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  seals  in  the  water  has  so  depleted 
their  number  that  the  company  is  at  present  unable  to  get  their  quota 
of  skins  on  the  island  as  allowed  per  contract  with  the  Government, 
and  is  restricted  to  such  an  insignificant  number  that  it  is  not  enough 
to  supply  food  to  the  native  population  of  the  islands.  It  is  an  indis- 
putable fact  that  large  portions  of  the  breeding  rookeries  and  hauling 
grounds  are  bare,  where  but  a  few  years  ago  nothing  but  the  nappy, 
noisy,  and  snarling  seal  families  could  be  seen.  *  The  driving 

rookeries  also  necessarily  have  suffered,  as  witness  the  difference  in  the; 
catch,  a  «  rop  from  100,000  to  about  20,000  in  1890.     (\V.  JS.  Hereford.) 

I  have  been  employed  on  the  seal  islands  since  1882,  have  resided 
upon  them  continuously  for  ten  years,  and  have  a  personal  knowledge 
of  the  seal  life  as  it  exists  on  the  islands  and  in  the  waters  surrounding 
them.  There  was  less  than  one-third  the  number  of  seals  on  the  islands 
last  year  than  in  1882.  The  decrease  in  the  number  of  seals  coming  to 
the  islands  was  first  noticed  and  talked  about  two  or  three  years  after 
I  first  came  to  live  here;  and  since  1887  the  decrease  has  been  very 
rapid.  A  careful  inspection  of  the  rookeries  each  returning  season  since 
1887  showed  that  the  cows  were  getting  less  and  less,  although  it  was 
a  rare  thing  to  find  a  cow  seal  that  did  not  have  a  pup  at  her  side. 
(Edward  Hughes.) 


SLAL    LIFE    <?X    THE    PIJ1IJ1LUK    ISLANDS,  231 

Ten  or  twelve  years  ago  the  rookeries  and  sea  were  full  of  seals,  hut 
now  there  are  not  a  great  many.  We  used  to  kill  85,000  in  less  than 
two  moiirlis"  time  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  our  people  earned  plenty  of 
money  to  buy  everything  they  wanted,  and  in  the  winter  we  killed  _!, 000 
or  3,000  male  pups  for  food  and  clothing.  Now  we  are  not  allowed  to 
kill  any  more  pups,  and  only  7, 500  male  seals  for  food,  and  the  people 
are  very  much  worried  to  know  what  is  To  become  of  them  and  their 
children.  (Jacob  Kotehootten.) 

1  remember  the  first  time  I  noticed  a  decrease  of  seals  on  the  rook- 
eries, about  seven  or  eight  years  ago,  and  the  seals  have  become  fewer 
every  year  since.  We  used  to  kill  85,000  seals  on  St.  Paul  Island  in 
less  than  sixty  days'  time  until  1890,  when  they  became  so  few  we 
could  not  take  more  than  about  one-fourth  of  that  number  in  the  same 
length  of  time.  (Nicoli  Krukofif.) 

All  our  people  know  the  seals  are  getting  scarcer  every  year,  and  we 
think  it  is  because  of  the  schooners  coming  in  and  shooting  the  cows 
the  sea.     (Nicoli  Krukoff.) 

About  1885  a  decrease  was  observed,  and  that  deciease  has  become 
more  marked  every  year  from  1885  to  the  present  time.  (Aggei  Ku- 
shen.) 

There  are  not  one  fourth  as  many  seals  now  as  there  were  in  188:3, 
and  our  people  are  very  much  alarmed  to  know  what  is  to  become  of 
them  after  the  seals  are  killed  off.  If  the  seals  decrease  as  fast  as  they 
have  during  the  past  five  or  six  years  there  will  be  none  left  in  a  very 
short  time  for  us  to  live  upon.  (Aggei  Kushen.) 

During  the  time  from  1885  to  1889  there  was  a  very  marked  decrease 
in  the  size  of  the  breeding  grounds  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  from  1887  to 
1889  I  also  noticed  a  great  decrease  in  the  areas  covered,  by  the  rook- 
eries on  St.  George  Island.  (Abial  P.  Loud.) 

In  his  report  of  1886  and  1887  George  E.  Tingle,  special  Treasury 
agent  in  charge  of  the  seal  islands,  reported  having  measured  the  rook- 
eries on  the  islands,  and  that  the  seals  had  largely  increased  in  number, 
giving  the  increase  at  about  ^,000,000.  From  this  report  I  dissented  at 
the  time,  as  I  was  unable  to  see  any  increase,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a 
perceptible  decrease,  in  the  rookeries.  I  expressed  my  views  to  many 
on  the  islands  and  all  agreed  that  there  had  been  no  increase  in  the  seal 
life.  The  measurements  of  the  rookeries  on  which  Mr.  Tingle  relied 
were  made  with  a  common  rope  by  ignorant  natives  while  the  seals  were 
absent  from  the  islands,  the  grounds  covered  by  them  being  designated 
by  Mr.  Tingle  from  memory.  (Abial  P.  Loud.) 

During  the  three  years  following  1882,  namely,  1883, 1884,  and  1885, 1 
was  not  upon  the  islands.  Upon  iny  return  in*  1880  I  noticed  a  slight 
shrinkage  in  the  breeding  areas,  but  am  unable  to  indicate  the  year  of 
the  period  of  my  absence  in  which  the  decrease  of  breeding  seals  began. 
From  the  year  1<S8(>  to  18S9,  inclusive,  my  observation  was  continuous, 
and  there  was  a  greater  decrease  of  the  seals  for  each  succeeding  year 
of  that  period  in  a  cumulative  ratio,  proportionate  to  the  number  of 
seals  killed  by  the  pelagic  sealers.  (H.  H.  Mclntyre.) 

In  1SS<;  I  again  assumed  personal  direction  of  the  work  upon  the 
islands,  and  continued  in  charge  to  and  including  1889.  And  now,  for 
the  first  time  in  my  experience,  there  was  difficulty  in  securing  such 
skins  as  was  wanted.  The  trouble  was  not  particularly  marked  in  1886, 


232  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

but  increased  from  year  to  year  to  an  alarming  extent,  until  in  1889,  in 
order  to  secure  the  full  quota  and  at  the  same  time  turn  back  to  the 
rookeries  such  breeding  bulls  as  they  seemed  to  absolutely  need,  we 
were  forced  to  take  fully  50  per  cent  of  animals  under  size,  which  ought 
to  have  been  allowed  one  or  two  years  more  growth.  Concerning  this 
matter  I  reported  to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  under  date  of 
July  10,  1889,  as  follows:  "The  contrast  between  the  present  condition 
of  seal  life  and  that  of  the  first  decade  of  the  lease  is  so  marked  that 
the  most  inexpert  can  not  fail  to  notice  it.  Just  when  the  change  com- 
menced I  am  unable  from  personal  observation  to  say,  for  as  you  will 
remember  I  was  in  ill  health  and  unable  to  visit  the  islands  in  1883, 
1884,  and  1885.  I  left  the  rookeries  in  1882  in  their  fullest  and  best 
condition  and  found  them  in  1880  already  shoeing  slight  falling  oft',  and 
experienced  that  year  for  the  first  time  some  difficulty  in  securing  just 
the  class  of  animals  in  every  case  that  we  desired.  We,  however, 
obtained  the  full  catch  in  that  and  the  two  following  years,  finishing 
the  work  from  the  24th  to  the  27th  of  July,  but  were  obliged,  particu- 
larly in  1888,  to  content  ourselves  with  smaller  skins  than  we  had  hereto- 
fore taken.  This  was  in  part  due  to  the  necessity  of  turning  back  to  the 
rookeries  many  half  grown  bulls,  owing  to  the  notable  scarcity  of  breed- 
ing males.  I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  ordered  them  killed  instead, 
but  under  your  instructions  to  see  that  the  best  interests  were  con- 
served, thought  best  to  reject  them.  The  result  of  killing  from  year  to 
year  a  large  and  increasing  number  of  small  animals  is  very  apparent. 
We  are  simply  drawing  in  advance  upon  the  stock  that  should  be  kept 
over  for  another  year's  growth."  (H.  H.  Mclntyre.) 

Q.  How  does  the  number  of  seals  on  the  rookeries  this  year  compare 
with  the  number  five  years  ago! — A.  The  number  now  is  about  one- 
fourth  of  what  they  were  then.  (Noen  Mandregin.) 

In  18S7  I  began  to  notice  a  diminution  in  the  number  of  seals  arriv- 
ing at  the  islands,  which  was  due  to  the  indiscriminate  killing  by  sealing 
vessels  in  the  open  sea,  some  50  or  GO  miles  distant.  While  we  still 
obtain  about  the  usual  number  of  skins,  many  more  are  taken  from  the 
younger  animals  than  formerly,  and  are  somewhat  inferior  in  quality. 
(John  Malowausky.) 

From  1885,  which  was  about  the  time  the  sealers  appeared  in  the 
waters,  the  decrease  in  seal  life  was  rapid,  and  the  natives  commenced 
saying  "no  females,"  "no  females,"  until  now  we  are  confronted  with 
depleted  rookeries  and  probable  extermination.  (John  Malowansky.) 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  perceptible  difference  in  the  number  of 
seals  on  rookeries  from  one  year  to  another! — A.  Yes. 

Q.  About  how  much  less  is  the  number  of  seals  during  the  past  year 
than  they  were  six  yea»s  ago? — A.  The  number  of  seals  this  year  is 
about  one  fourth  of  what  they  were  six  years  ago,  and  about  one  half 
of  what  they  were  last  year. 

Q.  In  what  way  do  you  form  your  above  opinion  as  to  the  relative 
number  of  seals  on  the  rookeries'? — A.  By  the  fact  that  many  spaces  on 
the  rookeries  which  were  formerly  crowded  are  now  not  occupied  at  all. 
(Anton  Melovedoft'.) 

About  1886  I  noticed  that  the  lines  of  former  years  were  not  lilled 
with  cows,  and  every  succeeding  year  since  then  has  shown  a  more 
marked  decrease.  In  1889  the  bachelors  were  so  few  on  the  hauling 
grounds  that  the  standard  weight  of  skins  was  lowered  to  5  pounds, 


SKAL    LIF,.    ON    T11K    I'KIWLOF    ISLANDS.  -33 

and  hundreds  were  taken  at  only  4  pounds  in  order  to   lill  the  quota  of 
100.000.     (A.  Melovedotf.) 

Tntil  the  schooners  eame  into  Bering  Sea  the  rookeries  were  always 
well  tilled,  and  many  of  them  had  grown  steadily  for  years,  when  it 
was  no  uncommon  thiug  for  tlie  lessees  to  take  the  quota  of  85,000 
seals  on  St.  Paul  Island  between  June  1  and  20  of  each  year.  After 
1SSI,  when  the  original  two  or  three  sealing  vessels  had  grown  to  be  a 
well-organized  fleet,  we  found  a  steady  decrease  of  seals  on  all  the 
rookeries,  and  we  found  it  ditticult  to  secure  the  quota  of  skins,  and  in 
18S!)  the  lessees  had  to  lower  the  standard  of  weight  lower  than  ever 
before  in  the  history  of  the  island.  (Simeon  Melovidov.) 

From  the  year  1874  till  1885  we  were  able  to  get  from  St.  George  and 
St.  Paul  islands  100,000  male  seals  within  the  period  known  as  the 
sealing  season  of  six  weeks,  from  the  10th  of  June  to  the  1st  of  August, 
and  still  leave  a  large  percentage  of  marketable  seals.  In  1885,  ami  in 
every  year  thereafter  until  1  left  in  1887,  there  was  a  marked  decrease 
in  the  number  of  marketable  skins  that  could  be  obtained  in  each  year 
during  the  sealing  season.  We  were  able,  down  to  the  last  year  (1887), 
to  get  our  total  catch  of  100,01)0  seals,  but  in  order  to  get  that  number 
we  had  to  take  what  in  previous  years  we  would  have  rejected,  namely, 
undersized  skins,  i.  e.,  the  skins  of  young  seals.  Prior  to  1887  we  had 
endeavored  to  take  no  skins  weighing  less  than  8  pounds,  but  in  order 
to  make  up  our  quota  in  the  last  mentioned  year  we  had  to  take  skins 
weighing  as  little  as  G£  pounds  to  the  number  of  several  thousands. 
(T.  F.  Morgan.) 

In  the  years  1885,  1880,  and  1887  my  attention  was  attracted  not  only 
to  a  diminution  in  the  number  of  killable  seals  appearing  on  the  island, 
but  to  a  decrease  in  the  females  as  well.  Up  to  the  year  1884  the  breed- 
ing space  in  the  rookeries  had  increased,  and  from  that  year  down  to 
1887,  when  1  left  the  island,  the  acreage  covered  by  the  rookeries  which 
were  occupied  by  seals  constantly  diminished.  (T.  F.  Morgan.) 

My  attention  was  called  to  the  decrease  of  seals  and  the  depletion  of 
the  rookeries  at  an  early  date  after  my  arrival.  I  attempted  to  study 
the  habits  and  conditions  and  to  note  the  numbers  of  seal  on  the  sev- 
eral rookeries  and  hauling  grounds.  The  natives  and  employees  of  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company  were  unanimous  in  their  opinion  that  the 
seal  had  been  decreasing  steadily  and  rapidly  since  1884.  1  reported 
the  fact  to  Agent  Goff,  who  had  found  similar  conditions  existing  on 
St.  Paul,  and  he  so  repoited  to  the  Department,  and  suggested  that 
not  more  than  00,000  seals  should  be  taken  in  any  one  season  in  future. 
In  pursuance  of  instructions  from  Agent  Goff,  I  left  St.  George  Island 
on  the  li>th  of  July.  1890,  and  landed  on  St.  Paul  Island  on  the  20th  of 
the  same  month,  and  remained  there  until  August,  1891.  During  the 
month  of  July,  1800,  I  Walked  over  the  rookeries  aud  hauling  grounds 
of  St.  Paul  Island,  ami  Agent  Goff  pointed  out  to  me  the  lines  to  which 
in  former  years  the  seals  hauled,  and  the  large  areas  which  they  cov- 
ered ;  and  then  he  called  my  attention  to  the  small  strip  covered  by 
seals  on  that  date,  which  was  smaller  than  the  year  previous.  Agent 
Goff  stopped  the  killing  of  seals  by  the  lessees  on  and  after  the  20th  of 
July,  1SUO,  because  of  the  depleted  condition  of  the  hauling  grounds; 
and  1  fully  concurred  in  his  order  and  action.  I  spent  the  sealing  season 
of  1891  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  pursuant  to  instructions  of  Agent  Wil- 
liams. I  o-ave  my  time  and  special  attention  to  the  study  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  rookeries,  both  the  breeding  and  hauling  grounds.  I  visited 


SKAL    LIl-'K    <  >\     THi:     PklP.ILoF    ISLANDS. 


their  condition  and  the  number  of  seals:  the  number  of  cows  to  the 
family,  and  the  number  of  idle,  vigorous  hulls  upon  each  rookery. 
(.1  OMM  >h  M  urra  v. 


(pon  my  lii'M  \'isi(  to  the  rookeries  and  hauling  grounds  of  the  island 
of  St.  i'aiil  my  at  tent  ion  was  at  tracted  to  the  evidences  oi  recent  and 
remote  occupancy  1 » y  the  seals.  Marked  differences  were  noticeable  in 
the  appearance  of  \  cgetat  ion  on  la  rue  areas  formerly  occupied  as  breed- 
ing  and  hauling'  grounds.  while  near  the  water's  edge,  more  recently 
occupied,  the  giound  was  entirely  bare  of  vegetal  ion.  enabling  one  to 
trace  Ihe  gradual  decrease  of  areas  occupied  daring  the  last  six  to 
eight  years.  My  examination  of  ilie  rookeries  on  St.  Paul  and  St. 
Ueorge  dining  the  years  is'.Ml.  IS'.H.  and  IS!)U  enabled  me  to  trace  the 
yearly  decreasing  area  occupied  by  the  fur  seals  on  these  islands. 
Aside  from  the  evidences  of  deserted  rookeries  and  hauling  grounds 
shown  by  native  inhabitants  of  each  island,  the  grounds  occupied  in 
former  years  were  now  deserted  and  grass  grown.  The  silent  witness 
of  the  deserted  rookeries  confirms  the  testimony  of  the  resident  agents 
of  the  lessees  of  the  islands  and  of  the  native  inhabitants  that  the 
number  of  :-eals  began  to  decrease  with  the  advent  of  pelagic  sealing, 
and  that  the  yearly  decrease  has  been  in  proportion  with  the  yearly 
increase  in  the  number  of  vessels  engaged  in  that  enterprise,  i  S.  I*. 
Xettleton.  < 

The  decrease  in  tlu4  number  of  seals  coining  to  the  islands  in  the  last 
three  or  four  years  becaaie  so  manifest  to  everyone  acquainted  with  the 
rookeries  in  earlier  days  that  various  theories  have  been  advanced  in 
an  attempt  to  account  for  the  cause  of  this  sudden  change,  and  the  fol- 
lowing are  some  of  then1:  (1)  "A  dearth  of  bulls  upon  the  breeding 
rookeries:"  (!'}  •'Impotency  of  bulls  caused  by  overdriving  while  they 
were  v<>ung  bachelors."  and  o>)  "An  epidemic  among  the  seals."  ( L. 
A.  Xoyes.i 

M.  Have  you  noted  any  perceptible  difference  in  the  number  of  seals 
on  the  rookeries  from  one  year  to  another.'  If  so.  what  changes  have 
vou  observed  .' — A.  \^  it  hin  t  he  la.--t  four  or  five  \  ears  I  have  observed  n 
decided  decrease  in  the  number  of  seals  on  the  rookeries. 

if.  In  what  proportion  have  the  seals  decreased  w  thin  the  time  men- 
tioned '. — A.  As  far  as  mv  judgment  goes.  1  should  say  at  least  one- 
half.  M.  ( '.  Red  path.  ( 

As  the  schooners  increased  the  >eals  decreased,  and  the  lines  of  con- 
tract ion  on  tli"  rookerh-s  were  not  iced  to  draw  nearer  and  nearer  to  the 
beach,  and  the  killable  seals  became  fewer  in  numbers  and  harder  to 
find.  In  IS*1!  th<-  decrease  was  so  plain  that  the  natives  and  all  the 
aiM-nt^  on  the  islands  saw  it  and  were  startled,  and  theories  of  all 
sorts  were  advanced  in  an  attempt  to  account  for  a  cause.  (J.  (J. 
Kedpath.) 

I  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  the  si/e  au<l  weight  of  skins  as  ordered, 
nor  had  mv  predecessors  in  the  office,  up  to  and  includ  in;:  bss|.  The 
casks  in  which  we  packed  them  for  shipment  were  made  b\  the  same 
man  lor  :nan\  vears,  and  were  alwav<  of  uniform  >i/,e.  In  issf)  these 
casks  averaged  about  17.'  skins  each,  at  d  in  Is-Sd  they  averaged  about 
.">!)'•  skins  each,  as  shown  by  the  records  in  our  office.  After  this  date 
the  number  increased,  and  in  1 SSS  they  averaged  about  ~>~>  skins  per 
cask,  and  in  1  ss'i  a\  erased  about  (>0  skins  per  cask.  Tliese  hitler  wei'O 


>EAL    LIFE    ON    THE    P1UBILOF    ISLANDS.  235 

not  such  skins  as  we  wanted,  but  the  superintendent  on  the  islands 
reported  tliat  they  were  the  best  he  could  get.     (Leon  Sloss.) 

The  number  of  seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  is  decreasing.  1  saw 
positive  proof  of  this  on  St.  Paul  Island  last  season.  (X.  L.  Tanner.) 

I  had  an  excellent  opportunity  to  observe  some,  of  the  seal  rookeries 
during  my  first  visit  to  the  islands,  and  spent  much  time  in  studying 
the  habits  of  the  seals,  both  on  the  rookeries  and  in  the  adjacent  waiters. 
I  was  particularly  impressed  with  the  great  numbers  to  In-  seen,  both 
on  land  and  in  the  water.  During  the  summer  of  18SJ)  the  Rush  was 
engaged  cruising  in  pursuit  of  vessels  engaged  in  illegal  sealing,  so  that 
our  anchorages  off  the  seal  rookeries  that  season  were  short  and  infre- 
quent, hence  I  did  not  have  the  opportunity  to  observe  them  as  closely 
on  land  as  the  preceding  year.  During  18JH)  the  Kmh  was  not  engaged 
in  preventing  sealing  outside  the  shore  limit,  and  we  spent  much  time 
in  full  view  of  the  seal  rookeries  and  cruising"  about  the  seal  islands, 
and  I  also  made  frequent  visits  to  the  breeding  grounds.  The  deserted 
appearance  of  the  rookeries  and  the  absence  of  seals  in  the  water  was 
very  noticeable  and  was  a  matter  of  general  remark  among  the  officers 
of  the  vessel  who  had  been  on  former  cruises.  Very  large  tracts  of  the 
rookeries  which  I  had  formerly  seen  occupied  by  the  seals  were  entirely 
deserted,  and  the  herds  were  much  smaller  than  those  of  18S8.  My 
attention  was  also  called,  by  those  conversant  with  the  facts,  to  the 
grass  growing  on  the  inshore  side  of  some  of  the  rookeries,  and  to  the 
three  different  shades  of  grass  to  be  ween,  indicating  the  spaces  that 
had  not  been  occupied  by  the  seals  for  several  years,  owing  to  their 
diminished  number.  The  darker  shade  showed  where  the  growth  first 
commenced,  and  a  lighter  shade  for  each  succeeding  year.  There  were 
three  or  four  differently  shaded  growths,  reaching  down  to  the  sand  of 
the  rookeries,  and  on  that  portion  of  the  rookeries  occupied  by  seals 
they  were  not  lying  near  as  compact  as  in  1888.  In  our  frequent  pas- 
sages during  LS'JO  between  the  Aleutian  group  and  the  seal  islands  we 
sometimes  made  an  entire  trip  without  seeing  a  seal.  This  was  entirely 
different  from  the  experience  of  preceding  years,  indicating  a  great 
falling  off  of  seal  life,  (Francis  Tuttle.) 

In  the  year  1880  I  thought  I  began  to  notice  a  falling  off  from  the 
year  previous  of  the  number  of  seals  on  Northeast  Point  rookery,  but 
this  decrease  was  so  very  slight  that  probably  it  would  not  have  been 
observed  by  one  less  familiar  with  seal  life  and  its  conditions  than  1; 
but  I  could  not  discover  or  learn  that  it  showed  itself  on  any  of  the 
other  rookeries.  In  1SS1  and  1885  I  noticed  a  decrease,  and  it  became 
so  marked  in  18«S(J  that  everyone  on  the  islands  saw  it.  This  marked 
decrease  in  1SS(>  showed  itself  on  all  the  rookeries  on  both  islands. 
I'm  il  1887  or  1.SS8,  however,  the  decrease  was  not  felt  in  obtaining  skins, 
at  which  time  the  standard  was  lowered  from  (>  and  7  pound  skins  to  5 
and  14  pounds.  The  hauling  grounds  of  Northeast  Point  kept  up  the 
standard  longer  than  the  other  rookeries,  because,  as  I  believe,  the 
latter  rookeries  had  felt  the  drain  of  the  open-sea  sealing  during  1885 
and  ISSiJ  more  than  Northeast  Point,  the  cows  from  the  other  rookeries 
having  gone  to  the  southward  to  feed,  where  the  majority  of  the  sealing 
schooners  were  engaged  in  taking  seal.  (Daniel  Webster.) 

In  pursuance  of  Department  instructions  to  me  of  May  127, 1891, 1  made 
a  careful  examination  during  the  sealing  season  of  the  habits,  numbers, 
and  conditions  of  the  seals  and  seal  rookeries,  with  a  view  of  reporting 
to  the  Department  from  observation  and  such  knowledge  on  the  subject 


SI:.\L   Lin-:  ON  THK   INMIJILOF   ISLANDS 

a^  I  iniulii  obtain  \\  hcther  <»r  not.  in  inv  opinion,  the  seals  were  dimin- 
ish in-  «>n  i  In-  I'ribilof  Islands:  and  if  so.  1  lie  causes  1  he  re  tor.  As  a  result 
of  such  i  n  vest  i-.ii  ji  »]i.  I  roiiiid.  t';  oin  the  statements  made  to  me  by  the 
n at  i \v>.  ( io\  ern men t  audits,  and  employers  of  I  lie  lessees,  some  of  whom 
had  been  on  the  island--  for  many  years,  that  a  decre  ise  in  the  number 
of  seals  had  been  u'radnally  .uoin-  mi  since  iss.~i.  and  that  in  the  last 
tliree  years  the  decrease  had  been  very  rapid.  A  careful  and  frequent 
examination  <>i  ihe  hanlinu'  grounds  and  breeding  rookeries  bv  mvself 
and  assistant  audits  during  tlie  months  oi'  .Inn'1.  Julv.  and  August 
showed  that  the  seals  had  greatly  diminished  in  number.  \\'e  found 
lar.uv  vacant  spaces  on  all  the  rookeries,  which  in  Ibrmer  years  during' 
these  moiith>  had  been  co\  ered  by  thousands  ot'  seals.  1'rior  to  1SSS 
the  lessees  had  been  able  to  take  lOO.IMO  skin-  Irom  male  seals,  but  1 
am  elearly  of  tiie  opinion  that  not  more  than  one  third  of  that  number 
ot'  merchantable  skins  can  be  taken  during  l!ie  vear  ls!'l.  (\V.  II. 
Williams.; 

I)Kt   KKASL    (»F    SEALS. 


In  studying  the  causes  ot'  diminution  of  seal  life,  there  weie  found  a 
variet  y  ot'  actual  and  possible  sources  of  destrnd  ion  which  ai  e  e!  feet ive 
in  varying  decrees.  Fortunately,  t  he  most  important  of  the-e  sources 
were  directly  under  my  observation,  and  the  following  facts  presented 
tliemsel  ves  for  consi.  iera  i  ion  :  The  restrict  ions  u  pon  t  lie  molest  at  ion  of 
the  breeding  ground-  ai:d  upon  the  killing  of  females  has  been  impera- 
ti\'e  1  »ot  h  on  the  pai  t  of  the  ( lover  n  i;en  t  and  lessees  since  t  he  A  men  can 
ownership  ot'  fiie  islands,  so  that  in  the  lakin.u  of  seals  no  injury  could 
possibly  ha  ve  occurred  to  the  females  and  bulls  found  iheicoii.  For 
some  yea  ;-s  past  the  naf  i  ves  were  permitted  to  k  ill  in  t  he  la  II  a  few  thou- 
sand male  puns  for  food.  Sir-ii  killing  has  been  prohibited.  It  is  not 
appa rcii  i  how  the  ki lliim'  of  male  pups  could  ha  ve  decreased  t  he  number 
of  leiua'es  on  the  breeding  grounds  ,-).  Stanley  IJiown.) 

i!  ill*-  seal--  were  as  numerous  to  day  on  the  I'ribilof  Islands  and  the 
mair.ici  of  driving  and  killing  conducted  in  i  lie  same  manner  as  during 
m  v  e  \  perience  t  here.  1  00.  o  '0  male  sea  is  of  from  '.'  to  I  \  ear-  of  a ,ue  could 
be  t-ti.en  tVom  the  naiiliiiL1,  grounds  an nually  for  an  indefinite  period 
withoiii  dim  in  n  i  i-m  ol  the  seal  he;  d.  (Charles  I  Iryaut . •• 

I  lecaiise  of  !  he  man  ner  of  killing  seals  on  t  he  is!  a  nd.-..  the  preca  lit  ions 
taken  to  kill  onl\  males  IVom  i:  to  o  years,  and  the  careful  limitation  of 
the  numbers  taken,  i  am  fully  convinced  that  the  taking  ol  seals  on  the 
1'iibiiof  Islands  could  never  affect  ihe  number-  of  ihe  seal  herd  or 
depict,-  (he  rookeries.  S.  N.  liuynitsky. 

1  \\a>  in  Ihe  employ  ot'  the  Alaska  ('ommercial  ('ompanv.  the  former 
lessees  of  the  sea  I  island--,  and  their  instructions  \\  ere  t  o  use  Ihe  lit  most 
care  in  taking  t  heir  .putt a  of  seals,  so  1  hat  t  here  m  ,uht  be  no  d  in  li  nut  ion 
in  number  Irom  vear  t"  vear,  and  I  personally  know  those  instructions 
were  rii: id  i  \  enforced.  (  Leander  ( 'o\. 

If  no  ot  her  a^enc\'  is  at  \\nrk  in  destroy  in  .y  seal  1  i  !•-.  1 00.000  bachelor 

seal-  can  be  taken  from  the  Fribilol  Islands  \early  for  an  indelinite 
period  .  pro  \  n  led  the  rook  eric. >  \\cre  in  the  sa  me  coiid  i  t  ion  t  he\  \\  ere  ill 
1*71.  <>!  this  I  am  convinced  from  the  fact  that  the  seals  continued 
to  increase  during  all  the  lime  !  was  upon  the  islands,  when  100.000 
were  killed  ever\  \ear  except  one.  \\hen  Ho. 000  were  taken.  (Samuel 
Falconer. ,  • 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS.  237 

Tlie  management  of  the  sealeries  upon  Copper  Island,  under  Kussian 
occupation,  was  left  wholly  to  the  native  chiefs  and  ignorant  laborers 
of  the  Russian-American  Company,  The  work  of  killing  the  seals  and 
curing  the  skins  was  done  by  them  in  a  very  unsystematic,  careless 
way;  but  even  then  it  was  understood  that  as  the  seals  aie  polygamous 
'Jie  surest  way  to  secure  an  increase  of  the  herd  was  to  kill  off  surplus 
males  and  spare  the  females,  and  this  was  systematically  practiced, 
resulting,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  most  satisfactorily.  Alter  the  expira- 
tion of  the  franchise  of  the  Russian  American  Company,  in  1807  I  think 
it  was,  and  their  abandonment  of  the  island,  and  the  execution  of  the 
lease  to  Hutehinson,  Kohl  &  Co.,  in  1871,  several  different  parties  visited 
the  island,  killed  seals  injudiciously,  and  inflicted  great  injury  upon  the 
rookeries.  They  were  restrained  to  some  extent  by  the  natives  from 
indiscriminate  slaughter,  but  I  have  no  doubt  they  killed  more  males 
than  they  ought  to  have  done,  and  perhaps  also  some  females.  Upon 
my  arrival  upon  the  island,  in  1871,  the  native  chief  told  me  that  the 
seals  were  not  as  plentiful  as  they  had  been  formerly.  I  announced 
that  we  intended  to  secure  0,000  skins  that  year.  They  protested,  that 
it  was  too  many,  and  begged  that  a  smaller  number  be  killed  for  one 
year  at  least.  We,  however,  got  the  0,000  skins  as  proposed,  and  an 
almost  constantly  increasing  number  in  every  subsequent  year  as  long 
as  J  stayed  on  the  islands,  until  in  1880  the  rookeries  bad  so  developed 
that  about  30,000  skins  were  taken  without  in  the  least  injuring  them 
This  is  proved  by  the  iact  that  the  increase  for  the  next  ten  years  allowed 
still  larger  numbers  to  be  killed,  amounting,  I  think,  in  one  of  the  years 
of  the  second  decade  of  the  lease  to  about  40,000  skins.  In  order  to 
secure  uniformity  in  the  methods  pursued  respectively  upon  the  Pribilof 
group  and  Commander  Islands,  the  respective  lessees  of  the  two 
interests  sent  Capt.  Daniel  Webster,  an  expert  sealer  of  many  years7 
experience  in  the  business,  and  who  was  at  the  time  in  the  service  of 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  at  St.  Paul  Island,  to  assist  and 
instruct  me  through  the  summer  of  1874  in  the  best  manner  of  handling 
seal  droves,  salting  skins,  and  generally  in  the  conduct  of  the  business. 
In  working  under  his  direction,  1  found  that  the  methods  pursued  by 
the  respective  parties  upon  the  different  sealeries  did  not  differ  in  any 
essential  feature.  The  main  object  in  both  places  was  to  select  good 
skins  for  market  and  spare  all  female  seals  and  enough  vigorous  bulls 
to  serve  them.  When  the  supply  of  bulls  is  more  than  enough  I  have 
no  doubt  the  number  of  offspring  is  diminished.  The  bulls,  when  over- 
numerous,  tight  savagely  for  the  possession  of  the  cow  seals,  and  unin- 
tentionally destroy  many  young  in  their  conflicts.  The  healthiest 
condition  of  a  rookery  is  no  doubt  when,  under  the  laws  of  polygamous 
reproduction  for  this  species,  the  proportion  of  the  sexes  is  properly 
balanced.  (C.  F.  Emil  Krebs.) 

Following  the  surrender  of  occupancy  of  these  islands  by  the  Eussian- 
American  Company  in  1868,  the  sealeries  were  left  opeu^to  all  parties," 
and  various  expeditions  visited  them  unrestricted  by  any  govern- 
mental control.  Their  catches  amounted  in  1868  to  about  15,000,  in 
1869  to  about  20,000,  and  in  1870  to  about  30,000  skins.  In  1871  the 
Russian  Government  executed  the  lease  to  Hutchinsou,  Kohl  &  Co., 
and  it  was  found  necessary  to  restrict  the  killing  for  this  year  to  about 
6,000. skins,  because  the  rookeries  had  been  largely  depleted  by  the 
excessive  killing,  unwise  methods,  and  heedless  husbandry.  The  result 
of  improved  methods  showed  themselves  at  once,  and  the  rookeries 
steadily  increased  in  size  and  number  of  occupants.  We  were  thus 
enabled  to  procure  an  almost  constantly  increasing  number  of  skins 


238  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PiifBILOF    ISLANDS. 

from  year  to  year  during  the  whole  term  of  our  lease.  We  were  unre- 
stricted as  to  the  numbers  to  be  taken,  and  after  the  first  two  years  of 
the  lease  were  urged  by  the  Russian  authorities  upon  the  islands  to  take 
more  than  we  wanted,  in  view  of  the  condition  of  the  seal-skin  market. 
I  revisited  the  islands  on  various  occasions  subsequent  to  1871,  and  my 
observations  confirmed  the  (act  that  we  were  moving  in  the  right  direc- 
tion to  secure  an  increase  of  the  rookeries.  The  experience  of  the  whole 
term  of  the  lease  proves  conclusively  that  our  policy  in  conducting  the 
business  was  a  wise  one,  and  that  our  manner  of  handling,  managing, 
and  killing  the  seals  was  in  every  respect  what  it  should  have  been. 
This  policy  was  predicated  upon  the  custom  of  the  Russian- American 
Company,  observed  during  many  years  and  strengthened  by  my  own 
actual  experience  in  conducting  the  business  of  taking  seals  upon  the 
Pribilof  Islands  in  1807,  1808,  and  1809,  and  more  particularly  during 
the  season  of  1808,  when  there  was  unrestricted  sealing  done  by  various 
parties  regardless  of  the  future  of  the  rookeries.  The  pernicious  effects 
of  the  methods  pursued  by  them  were  at  once  observed,  and  measures 
immediately  taken  by  me,  aided  by  the  natives,  over  whom  1  had  com- 
plete control,  to  correct  their  practices  and  bring  them  within  reason- 
able customs  already  proved  efficacious  in  preserving  the  rookeries  from 
annihilation.  (Gustave  Niebaum.) 

If  the  right  proportion  is  maintained  between  the  sexes,  the  greatest 
possible  number  of  progeny  is  assured.  As  long  as  we  were  able  to 
keep  exclusive  control,  undisturbed  by  outside  influences,  we  main- 
tained the  steady  increase  of  the  herd  and  profitable  returns  from  the 
industry.  When  outside  parties,  beyond  our  jurisdiction,  carried  on 
their  destructive  work  to  any  considerable  extent,  the  equilibrium  of 
the  sexes  was  destroyed,  any  calculation  of  those  in  charge  of  the 
islands  was  nullified  or  miscarried,  and  the  speedy  decrease  and  ulti- 
mate destruction  of  the  seals  and  sealing  industry  made  certain.  (H.  H. 
Mclntyre.) 

We  protect  and  take  good  care  of  the  seals,  and  if  they  were  not 
killed  in  the  sea  we  could  make  them  increase  upon  the  islands  so  that 
they  would  be  as  many  as  before.  (A.  Melovedoff.) 

We  can  care  for  and  protect  the  mature  seals  as  well  as  the  cattle  on 
the  ranges  are  cared  for  and  protected,  and  if  they  could  be  guarded 
from  the  hunters  in  the  sea  we  could  by  good  management  again  make 
the  rookeries  as  large  as  before.  (S.  Melovidov.) 

Naturally  the  cause  of  this  diminution  was  a  matter  of  interest  and 
inquiry.  It  was  not  evident  that  it  was  from  causes  incident  to  the 
taking  of  the  seals  upon  the  island.  The  greatest  care  was  exercised 
in  the  driving.  Urid^r  precisely  similar  conditions  the  herd  had  increased 
in  former  years.  The  number  of  skins  originally  apportioned  to  St. 
George  Island  was  reduced  at  an  early  date,  and  only  increased  in  pro- 
portion to  the  rookeries'  expansion.  No  disturbance  of  the  rookery  was 
permitted,  even  the  presence  of  dogs  and  use  of  firearms  being  prohib- 
ited during  the  presence  of  the  seals.  (T.  F.  Morgan.) 

The  management  of  the  rookeries  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  Company's  lease  resulted  in  a  large  increase  of  seals.  The 
same  business  management  continued  and  the  same  system  was  pur- 
sued to  the  end  of  the  term,  yet  in  the  last  five  years  the  rookeries  fell 
off.  Clearly  it  was  through  no  fault  of  the  company,  and  resulted  from 
some  cause  beyond  their  control.  I  do  not  think  the  Alaska  Commer- 
cial Company  made  any  mistakes  in  managing  the  seal  herd.  They 


SEAL    LIFK    ON     THK    1'KIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

handled  them  in  every  ropeet  us  I  would  have  done  if  tliey  had  been 
my  <>\vii  personal  properly  and  as  1  would  do  it'  they  were,  now  to  come 
into  my  hands.  11' they  erred  in  any  par!  ieular  in  their  management,  it 
was  in  their  futile  attempt  in  1SSS  and  IS.St)  to  stop  the  waste  of  the 
seal  life  at  the  island  spigot  while  it  was  running  out  at  the  btftlghole 
ol'  pelagic  sealing.  The  record  shows  that  we  did  not  finish  tbe  catch 
as  early  in  issr>  as  had  been  done  in  former  years,  i  do  not  think  this 
was  from  any  lack  of  seals,  but  was  caused  by  greater  care  in  making 
our  selection  of  animals  to  be  killed.  (Leon  Sloss.) 

1  again  visited  St.  Paul  Island  and  remained  there  several  days  in 
the  summer  of  ISSf),  but  saw  no  evidence  then  or  when  formerly  on  the 
island  to  lead  me  to  think  that  the  lessees  were  damaging  the  rookeries 
or  doing  anything  different  from  what  a  judicious  regard  for  the  future 
of  the  industry  would  dictate.  In  giving  this  evidence  1  am  as  free 
from  prejudice  as  is  possible  when  entertaining,  as  I  do,  a  feeling  that 
the  late  lessees  treated  me  in  some  measure  unjustly,  nor  have  I  any 
interest  whatever  in  the  seals  or  the  products  of  the  sealeries.  (George 
H.  Temple.) 

Raids  on  rookeries  not  the  cause. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  add  that  the  suggestion  has  been  made  that 
the  decrease  on  the  number  of  seals  is  due  to  piratical  raids  upon  the 
islands  themselves  during  the  breeding  season.  While  it  is  unques- 
tionably true  that  such  raids  have  occasionally  occurred  during  the  past, 
and  that  some  skins  have  been  obtained  in  that  way,  the  number  of  these 
is  so  trifling  in  comparison  with  the  annual  pelagic  catch  as  not  to  affect 
in  any  way  the  question  under  consideration.  It  is  also  difficult  for  one 
familiar  with  the  rookeries  and  habits  of  the  seal  to  conceive  of  a  raid 
being  made  without  its  becoming  known  to  the  officers  in  charge  of  the 
operations  upon  the  islands.  The  "  raid  theory,"  therefore,  maybe  dis- 
missed as  unworthy,  in  our  judgment,  of  serious  consideration.  (Eeport 
of  American  Commissioners.) 

The  statistics  which  I  have  examined,  as  well  as  all  the  inquiries 
made,  show  that  in  the  raids  upon  the  rookeries  themselves  by  maraud- 
ers the  loss  of  seal  life  has  been  too  unimportant  to  play  any  part  in  the 
destruction  of  the  breeding  grounds.  The  inhospitable  shores,  the 
exposure  of  the  islands  to  surf,  the  unfavorable  climatic  conditions,  as 
well  as  the  presence  of  the  natives  and  white  men,  will  always  prevent 
raids  upon  the  islands  from  ever  being  frequent  or  effective.  (J.  Stanley- 
Brown.) 

During  my  stay  upon  St.  George  Island  several  attempts  were  made 
by  poachers  to  get  on  shore  and  steal  the  seal,  but  they  succeeded,  as 
far  as  1  am  aware,  only  on  three  occasions,  and  in  all  those  three  I  do 
not  think  they  killed  more  than  1,200  or  1,500  seals,  including  pups.  If 
any  others  had  effected  a  landing  we  should  have  known  it,  for  the  rook- 
eries are  constantly  watched,  and  the  natives  are  very  keen  in  this 
matter.  (Harry  X.  Clark.) 

We  tried  to  make  a  raid  on  St.  George,  but  the  Corwin  was  after  us 
and  we  kept  out  of  its  way.  (Peter  Duffy.) 

During  the  time  I  was  on  St.  George  Island  there  never  was  a  raid  on 
the  rookeries  to  my  knowledge,  and  I  never  heard  of  any  such  raid  ever 
having  taken  place.  (Samuel  Falconer.) 


240  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

I  Lave  known  of  one  or  two  schooners  operating  in  Bering  Sea  as 
early  as  1877  or  1878,  and  tliey  were  on  the  rookeries  occasionally  during 
the  past  ten  years,  but  they  can  not  damage  the  seal  herd  innch  by  raid- 
ing the  rookeries,  because  they  can  not  take  many,  even  were  they  per- 
mitted, which  they  are  not  by  any  means.  (John  Fratis.) 

Raids  on  the  rookeries  by  marauders  did  not,  while  I  was  on  the 
island,  amount  to  anything,  and  certainly  seal  life  there  was  not  affected 
to  any  extent  by  such  incursions.  I  only  knew  of  one  raid  upon  St. 
Paul  Island  while  I  was  there.  It  was  by  a  Japanese  vessel,  and  they 
killed  about  KM)  seals,  the  carcasses  of  which  we  found  on  hoard  when 
we  captured  the  vessel.  (El.  A.  (Hidden.) 

We  sailed  about  January  from  Victoria,  British  Columbia;  sailed 
along  the  coast  until  the  latter  part  of  June  and  went  into  Bering  Sea, 
and  sealed  as  near  to  St.  George  Island  as  we  could.  We  caught  about 
300  or  400  seals  in  the  sea.  Our  intention  was  to  make  a  raid,  but  were 
driven  away  by  a  revenue  cutter.  We  left  the  sea  about  the  latter  part 
of  July.  (Joseph  G-rymes.) 

Max.  Heilbronner,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
secretary  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Agency,  and  as  such  have  in  my 
custody  all  record  books  of  the  company,  and  among  them  the  daily 
records  or  "  log  book"  kept  by  the  agents  of  the  company  on  St.  George 
Island  from  1873  to  1889,  inclusive,  and  on  St.  Paul  Island  from  1870  to 
1881),  inclusive.  In  these  books  every  occurrence  was  carefully  noted 
from  day  to  day  by  the  agent  in  charge  at  the  time.  They  have  been 
examined  under  my  supervision,  and  show  only  the  following  raids  on  St. 
George  Island  during  the  time  covered  by  them,  to  wit: 

October  23,  1881:  The  carcasses  of  15  dead  pups  and  a  cargo  hook 
were  found  on  a  rookery.  It  was  supposed  that  the  crew  of  a  schooner 
seen  about  the  island  a  few  days  previous  landed  in  the  night. 

October  10,  1884:  Fifteen  seal  carcasses  were  found  on  Zapadnie 
rookery.  A  guard  was  stationed,  and  the  following  night  the  crew  of 
a  schooner  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  land.  The  boats  were  fired 
on  by  the  guard  and  retreated. 

July  20,  1885:  A  party  landed  under  the  cliffs  in  a  secluded  place 
and  killed  about  500  adult  female  seals  and  took  the  skins  away  with 
them.  They  killed  about  500  pups  at  the  same  time,  leaving  them 
unskinned. 

July  22,  1885:  A  party  landed  at  Starry  Arteel  rookery  and  killed 
and  skinned  120  seals,  the  skins  of  which  they  left  in  their  flight,  when 
pursued  by  the  guard.  They  killed  also  about  200  pups,  which  were 
left  unskinned. 

November  17,  1888:  A  crew  landed  and  killed  some  seals  at  Zapad- 
nie; how  many  is  not  known,  but  at  this  season  of  the  year  the  number 
must  have  been  small,  because  the  seals  have  nearly  all  migrated. 

September  30,  1889:  Eighteen  dead  pups  and  four  clubs  were  found 
on  a  beach  near  a  rookery.  It  is  not  known  whether  any  others  were 
killed. 

An  examination  of  St.  Paul  record  does  not  show  any  destructive 
raids  upon  the  island.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  in  July,  1875,  prior  to 
the  beginning  of  the  record,  the  crew  of  the  schooner  San  Diego  landed 
on  Otter  Island,  a  small  islet  6  miles  from  St.  Paul,  and  killed  and 
skinned  1,660  seals.  She  was  captured  before  leaving  the  island,  and 
both  the  skins  and  vessel  were  condemned  to  forfeiture  by  the  United 
States  court. 


SKAL    I.IFK    ON    THK     PRIBILoF    ISLANDS.  '2  4 1 

The  reports  of  the  superintendent  for  the  lessees  show  that  it  was  the 
custom  of  the  company's  agent  on  the  islands  to  frequently  patrol  the 
rookeries  whenever  the  weather  was  such  that  a,  landing  could  be  effected 
on  them,  and  to  keep  watchmen  at  points  distant  from  the  villages, 
whose  special  dntv  it  was  to  report  every  unusual  or  suspicious  occur- 
rence. Kor  this  purpose  the  northeast  point  of  St.  Paul  Island  was 
connected  with  the  village  by  telephone  in  1880,  a  distance  of  12  miles, 
and  the  natives  instructed  in  the  use  of  the  instrument.  If  any  raids 
upon  the  islands,  other  than  those  herein  mentioned,  had  occurred,  1  am 
sure  they  would  have  been  detected  and  reported  to  this  office.  No  such 
reports  are  on  tile.  (Max.  ileilbronner.) 

H.  11.  Mclntyre,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was 
superintendent  of  the  seal  h'sberies  of  Alaska  from  1871  to  1889,  inclu- 
sive. The  records  above  referred  to  were  kept  under  my  direction  by 
my  assistants  on  the  respective  islands.  1  was  in  frequent  correspond- 
ence with  these  assistants  when  not  personally  present  and  am  sure  that 
anything  worthy  of  notice  would  have  been  promptly  reported  to  me. 
1  believe  that  these  records  contain  a  true  account  of  all  destructive 
raids  upon  the  islands.  If  there  had  been  any  others  I  should  have 
heard  of  them.  Every  unusual  occurrence  at  any  point  about  the  islands 
was  noted  by  the  keen  eyed  natives  and  at  once  reported  to  the  com- 
pany's office,  the  matter  was  investigated,  and  a  record  of  it  entered  in 
the  daily  journal.  I  am  confident  that  the  only  marauding  expedition 
that  ever  succeeded  in  killing  more  than  a  few  dozen  seals  each  were 
those  of  1875,  upon  Otter  Island,  and  of  188.")  upon  St.  George  Island, 
the  details  of  which  were  set  forth  by  Mr.  Heilbronner  in  the  foregoing 
affidavit.  If  there  were  others  of  which  no  records  appear  the  number 
of  seals  killed  was  comparatively  very  small  and  had  no  appreciable 
effect  upon  seal  life.  (II.  H.  Me  1 11  tyre.) 

Sometimes  they  try  to  laud  on  the  rookeries,  but  we  drive  them  off 
with  guns,  and  they  never  get  many  seals  that  way.  (Nicoli  Krukoff.) 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  seals  were  injured  because  a  few  were 
killed  on  the  rookeries,  when  men  from  schooners  landed  on  the  islands 
in  the  night  or  when  the  fog  was  very  thick,  lor  the  numbers  killed  in 
that  way  never  amounted  to  much,  as  it  is  not  often  the  raiders  can 
land  on  a  rookery  and  escape  with  their  plunder.  (Aggie  Knshen.) 

When  on  a  raid  we  would  watch  for  a  favorable  opportunity  to  make 
a  landing,  and  then  kill  male  and  female  fur  seals  indiscriminately. 
Probably  for  every  500  marketable  skins  secured,  double  that  number 
of  pups  were  destroyed.  (L.  M.  Lenard.) 

While  I  was  on  the  island  there  were  not  more  than  three  or  four 
raids  on  the  rookeries  to  my  knowledge,  and  I  think  that  the  destruction 
to  seal  life  by  raiding  rookeries  is  a  small  part  of  1  per  cent  as  compared. 
with  the  numbers  taken  by  killing  in  the  water.  (A.  P.  Loud.) 

It  is  often  difficult  to  entirely  prevent  poaching  on  the  islands, 
although  in  my  judgment  it  has  not  been  of  sufficient  importance  on 
the  Commander  Islands  to  have  any  perceptible  influence  in  the  diminu- 
tion of  the  herd.  (John  Malowansky.) 

I  remember  seeing  an  occasional  sealing  schooner  in  Bering  Sea  as 
long  ago  as  1878,  but  it  was  in  1884  they  came  in  large  numbers.  At 
tirst  it  was  supposed  they  intended  to  raid  the  rookeries,  and  we  armed 
a  number  of  men  and  kept  guard  every  night,  and  we  drove  off  any 
boats  we  found  coming  to  a  rookery.  Sometimes  in  a  dense  fog  or  very 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 16 


242  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

dark  night  they  landed  and  killed  a  few  hundred  seals,  but  the  numbers 
taken  in  this  manner  are  too  small  to  be  considered.     (A.  Melovedoff.) 

One  cause  of  destruction  is  raiding,  which  has  been  done  upon  the 
shores  of  the  islands.  A  half  dozen  such  raids  are  known  to  me  per- 
sonally ;  but  while  it  is  not  possible  for  me  to  state  with  certainty  the 
skins  actually  secured  by  such  raids,  I  believe  that,  although  such 
raiding  is  detrimental,  its  injurious  effect  as  compared  with  the  disas- 
trous results  of  pelagic  sealing  is  insignificant.  (T.  F.  Morgan.) 

There  was  only,  as  I  recollect,  four  raids  on  the  islands  while  I  was 
there;  but  little  or  no  damage  was  done,  and  seal  life  was  not  percep- 
tibly affected  by  such  marauding.  (J.  H.  Moulton.) 

From  my  personal  knowledge  of  the  number  of  seals  killed  upon  the 
Pribilof  Islands  by  raids  upon  the  rookeries  during  my  residence  there, 
and  from  information  gained  from  other  sources,  I  conclude  that  the 
number  of  fur  seals  killed  is  infinitely  small  compared  with  the  number 
killed  in  pelagic  sealing — so  small  as  to  have  no  appreciable  effect 
upon  seal  life  upon  the  islands.  (8.  K.  Nettleton.) 

I  am  told  that  the  diminution  of  seal  life  has  been  attributed  to  raids 
by  poachers  upon  the  seal  islands.  Very  few  of  these  have  occurred, 
and  the  number  of  skins  obtained  by  the  poachers  has  been  compara- 
tively infinitesimally  small.  I  think  the  whole  number  obtained  by 
them  in  this  way  does  not  exceed  3,000  or  4,000  skins.  We  were  accus- 
tomed always  to  maintain  a  patrol  and  guard  upon  the  rookeries  when- 
ever the  weather  was  such  that  poachers  could  land  upon  them,  and 
upon  the  least  suspicious  circumstances  measures  were  taken  to  fore- 
stall any  attempts  to  steal  the  seals.  The  sea  is  usually  rough  in  the 
fall,  when  poachers  try  to  get  in  their  work;  the  shores  are,  at  most 
places,  inaccessible  from  boats,  and  the  natives  are  vigilant  and  active. 
If  marine  hunting  is  stopped,  they  can  be  safely  trusted  to  defend  the 
property  upon  which  their  very  existence  is  dependent,  as  they  have 
done  repeatedly,  against  any  single  schooner's  crew.  (Gustave  Niv- 
baum.) 

There  were  occasional  raids  made  upon  the  islands  (Commander)  by 
poachers  during  our  twenty  years'  lease,  but  they  were  generally  unsuc- 
cessful in  killing  any  considerable  number  of  seals,  and  their  raids  had 
no  appreciable  effect  upon  the  rookeries.  (Gustave  Niebaum.) 

During  those  years  the  lawless  occupation  of  seal  poaching  was  in 
its  infancy.  Marauding  vessels  from  time  to  time  were  seen  in  these 
waters,  but  the  islands  were  so  well  guarded  that  during  my  term  of 
office  there  never  was  a  successful  raid  or  landing  upon  either  of  the 
islands  of  St.  Paul  or  St.  George.  The  only  landing  upon  any  island  of 
the  group  was  made  in  June,  1881,  upon  the  unoccupied  island  of  Otter 
(not  included  in  the  lease),  as  described  in  my  special  report  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  dated  July  4, 1881.  On  that  occasion  a  pred- 
atory schooner  succeeded  in  landing  a  boat's  crew,  who  killed  40  or  50 
seals,  when  they  were  driven  off  by  a  boat  sent  by  me  for  that  purpose 
from  St.  Paul,  about  6  miles  distant.  (H.  G.  Otis.) 

Until  1884  sealing  schooners  were  seen  but  very  seldom  near  the 
islands  or  in  Bering  Sea,  and  the  few  seals  taken  by  the  hunters  who 
raided  the  rookeries  occasionally  are  too  paltry  to  be  seriously  consid- 
ered, because  the  raids  were  so  few,  and  the  facilities  for  taking  many 
seals  off  so  utterly  insignificant.  (J.  C.  Redpath.) 


SEAL    LIFK    ON    TIIK    PRII'.ILOF    ISLANDS.  243 

There  was  hut  one  successful  raid  on  the  rookeries  while  I  was  upon 
the  island  and  hut  ll'.")  seals  were  killed.  1  do  not  consider  that  raids 
on  the  rookeries  have  anything  to  do  with  the  decrease  of  the  number 
of  seals.  (T.  F.  Ryan.)  ' 

While  1  was  on  the  islands  there  were  no  raids  on  the  rookeries,  and 
seal  life  was  neyer  depleted  at  that  time  by  such  means.  (B.  F.  Scrib- 
ner.) 

There  was  hut  one  raid  on  the  rookeries  while  I  was  there,  and  that 
took  place  on  Otter  island,  about  <>()  skins  being  taken.  After  that  raid 
the  Government  kept  a  man  on  Otter  Island  during  the  entire  summer 
to  protect  it  from  marauders.  Raids  on  the  islands  never  affected  seal 
life  to  any  extent.  (\V.  P>.  Taylor.) 

I  do  not  remember  the  precise  date  of  the  tirst  successful  raid  upon 
the  rookeries  by  sealing  schooners,  but  I  do  know  that  for  the  past  ten 
years  there  have  been  many  such  raids  attempted  and  a  few  of  them 
successfully  carried  out,  and  that  as  the  number  of  schooners  increased 
around  the  islands,  the  attempted  raids  increased  in  proportion,  and  it 
has  been  deemed  necessary  to  keep  armed  guards  near  the  rookeries  to 
repel  such  attacks.  Although  a  few  of  the  raids  were  successful  and 
a  few  hundred  seals  killed  and  carried  off  from  time  to  time  during  the 
past  ten  years,  the  aggregate  of  all  the  seals  thus  destroyed  is  too  small 
to  be  mentioned  when  considering  the  cause  of  the  sudden  decline  of 
seal  life  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  (Daniel  Webster.) 

DESTRUCTION   OF  FEMALE   SEALS. 

Examination  of  pelagic  catch  of  1892. 

On  May  7  of  this  year  I  examined  355  salted  fur  seal  skins,  ex  steamer 
Umatilla  from  Victoria,  and  found  the  same  to  be  fresh  skins  taken  oft' 
the  animal  within  three  months.  They  were  killed  in  the  North  Pacific. 
On  examination  I  found  they  were  the  skins  known  as  the  Northwest 
Coast  seals,  and  belong  to  the  herd  which  have  their  rookery  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands.  The  lot  contained  310  skins  of  the  fur-seal  cow 
(matured).  From  the  shape  of  the  skins  most  all  of  these  cows  must 
have  been  heavy  with  pup,  and  same  cut  out  of  them  when  captured. 
Eighteen  skins  of  the  fur-seal  male  (matured).  Twenty-seven  skins  of 
the  fur-seal  gray  pup,  from  (>  to  9  months  old;  sex  doubtful. 

On  June  2  I  examined  78  salted  fur  seal  skins,  ex  steamer  Walla 
^\'<llla  from  Victoria,  and  found  the  same  to  be  fresh  skins  taken  off 
the  animal  within  three  months.  They  were  killed  in  the  North  Pacific. 
On  examination  I  found  they  were  the  skins  known  as  the  Northwest 
Coast  seals,  and  belong  to  the  herd  which  have  their  rookery  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands.  The  lot  contained  66  skins  of  the  fur-seal  cow 
(matured).  From  the  shape  of  the  skin  most  all  of  these  cows  must 
have  been  heavy  with  pup,  and  the  same  cut  out  of  them  when  cap- 
tured. Five  skins  of  the  fur-seal  male  (matured).  Seven  skins  of  the 
fur  seal  gray  pup,  from  6  to  9  months  old;  sex  doubtful. 

On  June  7  I  examined  268  salted  fur-seal  skins,  ex  steamer  Umatilla 
from  Victoria,  and  found  the  same  to  be  fresh  skins  taken  off  the 
animal  within  three  months.  They  were  killed  in  the  North  Pacific. 
On  examination  I  found  they  were  skins  known  as  the  Northwest  coast 
seals  and  belong  to  the  herd  which  have  their  rookery  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands.  The  lot  contained  LM2  skins  of  the  fur-seal  cow  (matured). 
From  the  shape  of  the  skin  most  all  of  these  cows  must  have  been 


244  SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIIJILOF    ISLANDS. 

heavy  with  pup,  and  same  cut  out  of  them  when  captured.  Eleven 
skins  of  the  fur-seal  male  (matured).  Forty  skins  of  the  fur  seal  gray 
pup,  from  (>  to  !)  months  old;  sex  doubtful. 

On  the  same  date  I  also  examined  124  salted  fur  seal  skins,  ex  steamer 
I'mntiHa  from  Victoria,  and  found  the  same  to  be  fresh  skins  taken  off 
the  animal  within  three  months.  They  were  killed  in  the  North  Pacific. 
On  examination  I  found  that  they  were  the  skins  known  as  the  North- 
west coast  seals  and  belong;  to  the  herd  which  have  their  rookery  on 
the  Pribilof  Islands.  The  lot  contained  !)•'>  skins  of  the  fur  seal  cow 
(matured).  From  the  shape  of  the  skin  most  all  of  these  eows  must 
nave  been  heavy  with  young',  and  the  same  cut  out  of  them  when  cap- 
tured. Fifteen  skins  of  the  fur  seal  male  (matured).  Sixteen  skins  of 
the  fur  seal  gray  pup,  from  (>  to  0  months  old;  sex  doubtful. 

I  notice  on  examining  seals  caught  this  spring'  that  there  is  a  lack  of 
the  larger  size  of  productive  animals,  and  the  lots  mostly  contain  the 
skins  of  the  medium-sixed  seals,  running;  from  "2  to  .">  years  of  age. 
(Charles  J.  Behlow.) 

On  the  29th  instant  I  examined  2,1 70  salted  fur  seal  skins,  ex  schooner 
K  nun  ft  and  LnniM  from  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  and  found  same  to  be 
fresh  skins  taken  off  the  animal  within  four  months.  They  were  killed 
in  the  North  Pacific.  On  examination  I  find  they  were  the  skins  known 
as  the  Northwest  coast  skins,  and  belong- to  the  herd  which  have  their 
rookery  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  The  lot  contained  4  skins  of  the  fur- 
seal  large  bulls  (breeding  bulls):  123  skins  of  the  fur  seal  male  (mostly 
matured):  1)8  skins  of  the  fnr  seal  gray  pup,  less  than  1  year  old,  sex 
doubtful;  1,112  skins  of  the  fur  seal  cow  (mostly  matured).  From  the 
shape  of  the  skin  most  all  these  cows  must  have  been  heavy  with  pup, 
and  same  cut  out  of  them  when  captured,  (diaries  ,7.  Behlow.) 

As  a  result  of  the  work  1  have  performed  for  so  many  years  I  am  able 
to  distinguish  without  difficulty  the  skin  of  a  female  seal  from  that  of 
a  male  seal.  There  are  generally  several  ways  in  which  I  can  tell 
them  apart.  Oue  of  the  surest  ways  consists  in  seeing  whether  any 
teats  can  be  found.  On  a  female  skin  above  the  age  of  2  years  teats 
can  practically  always  be  discovered:  when  the  animal  is  over  3  years 
old  even  a  person  who  is  not  an  expert  at  handling  skins  can  discover 
two  prominent  ones  on  each  side  of  almost  every  skin.  This  because 
after  the  age  of  3,  and  often  even  after  2,  almost  all  females  have  been 
in  pup.  There  are  also  teats  on  a  male  skin,  but  they  are  only  very 
slightly  developed.  When  the  fur  is  matted,  as  it  is  in  salted  fur  seal 
skins,  the  male  teats  can  not  be  found,  but  the  female  teats  of  skins 
more  than  2  years  old  can  be  found  under  all  circumstances. 

I  have  been  able  to  test  all  my  observations  as  to  the  teats  on  salted 
fur-seal  skins  by  following  these  skins  through  the  various  processes 
which  I  have  desciibed.  During  these  processes  the  skins  become  thin- 
ner and  thinner,  and  the  teats  more  and  more  noticeable,  and  at  an 
early  stage  in  the  dressing  they  must  be  wholly  removed.  There  are 
other  ways  of  distinguishing  the  skins  of  the  two  sexes.  I  will  state  a 
few  of  them. 

A  female  has  a  narrower  head  than  a  male  seal.  By  the  word  "  head  " 
I  mean  here  to  include  that  part  of  the  body  from  the  head  down  to  the 
middle  of  the  back.  I  believe  all  men  who  have  handled  the  skins  of 
both  sexes  have  noticed  this  point.  Then,  again,  when  the  whiskers 
have  not  been  cut  off  they  generally  afford  a  safe  means  of  distinguish- 
ing the  sexes.  Male  whiskers  are  much  more  brittle  and  of  a  darker 
color  than  those  of  the  female  animal.  When  the  male  seal  is  over  G 


SEAL    LIFI-;    ON    THK    P1J1I5ILOF    ISLANDS.  245 

years  old  it  begins  to  have  a  mane,  and  for  this  reason  it  is  after  that 
age  called  a  wig.  Finally,  it  is  generally  possible  for  me  to  tell  the 
skins  of  the  two  sexes  apart  by  just  taking  a  look  at  them  or  feeling 
them.  1  suppose  1  can  do  this  because  I  have  been  at  the  business  so 
long  that  1  am  an  expert  in  it. 

The  chief  classes  of  seal  skins  that  I  have  handled  are  the  Alaska, 
the  Northwest  coast,  and  the  Copper  Island  skins.  I  can  always  dis- 
tinguish the  skins  of  these  classes.  The  Northwest  Coast  skins  are 
most  easily  told  by  the  very  great  proportion  of  females  contained  in 
any  given  lot.  Among  the  Alaska  and  Copper  skins  I  have  hardly  ever 
seen  a  female  skin.  (John  ,J.  Phelan.) 

I  was  sent  to  New  York  from  Albany  a  few  days  ago  by  Mr.  George 
II.  Tread  well,  with  instructions  to  go  through  a  certain  lot  of  seal  skins 
which,  I  understand,  he  had  recently  bought  in  Victoria,  and  to  find 
out  how  many  of  these  skins  were  taken  from  female  animals.  I  have 
spent  four  days  in  doing  this,  working  about  seven  hours  a  day. 

There  were  several  men  who  unpacked  the  skins  and  laid  them  before 
me.  so  that  all  of  my  time  was  spent  in  examining  the  individual  skins. 
The  lot  contained  :>,.~>50  skins.  I  found  that,  with  the  possible  excep- 
tion of  two  dried  ones,  they  were  taken  from  the  animal  this  year; 
they  were,  a  part  of  what  is  known  as  the  spring  catch.  [  know  this 
to  be  the  case  by  the  fresh  appearance  of  the  blubber  and  of  the  skin 
as  a  whole.  This  affords  a  sine  way  of  telling  whether  the  skin  has 
lain  in  salt  all  winter  or  whether  it  has  been  recently  salted.  I  per- 
sonally inspected  each  one  of  these  skins  by  itself  and  kept  an  accu- 
rate record  of  the  result.  I  divided  the  skins  according  to  the  three 
following  classes:  .Males,  females,  and  pups.  In  the  class  of  pups  I 
placed  oidy  the  skins  of  animals  less  than  2  years  of  age,  but  without 
reference  to  sex. 

I  found  in  the  lot  3<.),">  males,  2,107  females,  and  OSS  pups.  Leaving 
out  of  account  the  pups,  the  percentage  of  females  was  therefore  about 
82.  The  great  majority  of  what  1  classed  as  male  skins  were  taken 
from  animals  less  than  .">  years  of  age.  There  was  not  a  single  wig  in 
the  lot.  On  the  other  hand,  nearly  all  the  female  skins  were  those  of 
full  grown  animals.  On  every  skin  which  I  classed  among  the  females 
1  found  teats,  with  bare  spots  about  them  on  the  fur  side.  Such  bare 
spots  make  it  absolutely  certain  that  these  teats  were  those  of  female 
skins. 

With  regard  to  the  pup  skins.  I  will  say  that  I  did  not  undertake  to 
determine  whether  they  were  males  or  females,  because  they  had  a 
thick  coat  of  blubber  which,  in  the  case  of  an  animal  less  than*  2  years 
old,  makes  it  very  hard  to  tell  the  sex. 

All  of  the  skins  that  I  examined  were  either  shot  or  speared.  I  did 
not  keep  a  close  count,  but  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  about  75  per  cent 
of  them  were  shot. 

The  result  of  the  examination  is  about  what  I  expected  it  would  be. 

The  ligures  only  confirm  what  I  have  always  noticed  in  a  general 
way.  that  nearly  nine-tenths  of  the  skins  in  any  shipment  of  Northwest 
coast  skins  are  those  of  female  animals.  (John  J.  Phelan.) 

Examination  of  ratch  of  vessel*  seized. 

About  seven  years  since  I  was  on  the  revenue  cutter  Concin  when 
she  seized   the  sealing  schooner  San  Dict/o  in  Bering  Sea.     On  the      / 
schooner's  deck  were  found  the  bodies  of  some  20  seals  that  had  recently 
been  killed.     An  examination  of  the  bodies  disclosed  that  all  of  them, 


246  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKII3ILOF    ISLANDS. 

with  but  a  single  exception,  were  females,  and  bad  their  young  inside 
or  were  giving  suck  to  their  young.  Out  of  some  ."iOO  or  (KM)  skins  on 
board  I  only  found  some  5  of  tbe  number  that  were  taken  from  males. 
I  have  also  been  present  at  numerous  other  sei/nres  of  sealing  vessels, 
some  18  in  number,  and  among  the  several  thousand  skins  seized  1 
found  on  examination  that  they  were  almost  invariably  those  of  females. 
There  certainly  was  not  a  larger  proportion  of  males  than  f>  to  100 
skins.  This  great  slaughter  of  mother  seals  certainly  means  a  speedy 
destruction  of  seal  life.  (James  H.  Douglass.) 

While  in  Unalaska  in  September,  1801,  awaiting  transportation  to 
San  Francisco,  I  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  personally  the  catch 
of  the  steam  sloop  Ghitllcngc,  which  had  been  warned  out  of  the  sea, 
and  was  undergoing  repairs  at  tbe  harbor  named.  The  catch  amounted 
to  172  skins,  which  were  all  taken  in  Bering  Sea  at  various  distances 
from  the  seal  islands,  and  of  this  number  only  three  were  those  of  male 
seals,  one  of  those  being  an  old  bull,  and  the  other  two  being  younger 
males.  (A.  \V.  Lavender.) 

In  July,  1887, 1  captured  the  poaching  schooner . \  nr/el  Dolly  while  she 
was  hovering  about  the  islands.  1  examined  the  seal  skins  she  bad  on 
board,  and  about  80  percent  were  skins  of  females.  In  18SS  or  1SS9  1 
examined  something  like  5,000  skins  at  Tnalaska,  which  had  been  taken 
from  schooners  engaged  in  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea,  and  at  least 
80  or  85  per  cent  were  skins  of  females.  (A.  1*.  Loud.) 

I  bave  personally  inspected  skins  taken  upon  the  three  schooners 
Onward,  Caroline,  ami  Thornton,  which  skins,  taken  in  Bering  Sea, 
were  landed  in  Tnalaska  and  were  then  personally  inspected  by  me  in 
tbe  month  of  May,  1887.  The  total  number  of  skins  so  examined  was 
2,000,  and  of  that  number  at  least  SO  per  cent  were  the  skins  of  females. 
I  have  also  examined  the  skins  taken  by  the  United  States  revenue 
cutter  Rush  from  one  of  the  North  Pacific  islands,  where  they  had  been 
deposited  by  what  is  known  as  a  poaching  schooner  and  taken  to  Una- 
laska, which  numbered  about  400  skins,  and  of  that  JOO  skins  at  least 
80  per  cent  were  tbe  skins  of  female  seals.  1  have  also  examined  the 
skins  seized  from  the  Jamex  Hamilton  Lewis  in  the  year  1891,  by  the 
liussian  gunboat  Aleut,  numbering  41<>,  of  which  at  least  90  per  cent 
were  the  skins  of  female  seals.  From  my  long  observation  ot  seals  and 
seal  skins  1  am  able  to  tell  the  difference  between  the  skin  of  a  male 
and  tbe  skin  of  a  female  seal.  (T.  F.  Morgan.) 

I  examined  over  12,000  skins  from  sealing  vessels  seized  in  1887  and 
1889,  and  of  these  at  least  two  thirds  or  three  fourths  were  the  skins  of 
females.  (L.  G.  Shepard.) 

REASON  PREGNANT  FEMALES  AKE  TAKEN. 

I  think  cow  seals  are  tamer  than  young  male  seals.     (Martin  Benson.) 

A  cow  seal  that  is  heavy  with  pup  is  sluggish  and  sleeps  more  soundly 
than  the  males,  and  tor  that  reason  they  are  more  readily  approached. 
(Henry  Brown.) 

They  are  very  tame  after  giving  birth  to  their  young  and  are  easily 
approached  by  tbe  hunters.  When  tbe  females  leave  the  islands  to 
feed  they  go  very  fast  to  tbe  fishing  banks,  and  after  they  get  their  food 
they  will  go  to  sleep  on  the  waters.  That  is  the  hunter's  great  chance. 
I  think  we  secured  more  in  proportion  to  the  number  killed  than  we  did 
in  the  North  Pacific.  (James  L.  Cartbcut.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PHIHILOF    ISLANDS.  247 

They  sleep  more  and  are  less  active  and  moreeasily  captured.  (Simeon 
<Jhin-koo-tin.) 

I  think  the  female  seal  is  less  active  and  more  easily  approaehed. 
(Peter  Church.) 

I  have  noticed  that  the  females  \vlien  at  sea  are  less  wild  and  distrust- 
ful than  the  bachelor  seals,  and  dive  less  quickly  in  the  presence  of  the 
hunter.  After  feeding  plentifully,  or  when  resting  after  heavy  weather, 
they  appear  to  fall  asleep  upon  the  surface  of  the  water.  It  is  then  they 
become  an  easy  target  for  the  hunters.  (James  H;  Douglass.) 

I  think  the  females  sleep  more  on  the  water,  and  are  less  active  and 
more  easily  taken  than  the  males.  (E.  Hofstad.) 

When  the  females  are  with  pup  they  sleep  more,  are  less  active,  and 
more  easily  approached  than  the  male  seals.  (P.  Kahiktday.) 

Think  cows  are  much  more  plentiful  on  the  coast,  sleep  more,  and  are 
more  easily  captured  than  the  male  seals.  (John  Kowineet.) 

Think  cows  are  less  active  and  require  more  sleep  than  the  young 
male  seals.  (George  Lacheek.) 

1  am  informed  and  believe  that  the  reason  of  there  being  such  a  large 
proportion  of  females  among  the  coast  skins  is  because  the  male,  which 
is  powerful  and  strong,  usually  swims  more  readily  and  at  a  longer 
•distance  from  the  coast,  and  are  so  scattered  and  active  and  hard  to 
<;atch  that  it  does  not  pay  to  hunt  them.  The  female  heavy  with  young 
easily  tires  and  sleeps  on  the  water,  and  is  easily  shot  while  in  that 
condition.  (George  Liebes.) 

.Mother  seals  heavy  with  young  are  much  easier  taken,  for  they  are 
usually  asleep  on  the  water  (William  H.  Long.) 

Q.  Why  is  it,  in  your  opinion,  that  more  female  than  male  seals  are 
killed  by  the  poachers? — A.  Because,  tirst,  in  the  passage  of  the  seals 
to  the  islands  in  the  early  season  the  females  travel  in  groups  and  the 
males  scatter;  secondly,  after  arriving  at  the  islands  the  males  remain 
on  or  about  the  hauling  grounds,  while  the  females,  having  their  pups 
to  nurse,  go  out  into  the  sea  to  obtain  food. 

Q.  How  do  you  tell  the  skin  of  a  female  from  that  of  a  male? — A.  P>y 
the  nipples  and  general  appearance.  (Anton  Melovedott'.) 

As  I  understand  the  fact  to  be,  most  of  the  seals  killed  in  the  open 
sea  are  females.  My  reasons  for  this  conclusion  are  that,  from  my 
knowledge  of  the  seal,  I  know  that  the  female  when  heavy  with  young, 
as  they  are  during  the  early  part  of  the  season  when  on  their  way  to 
the  rookeries,  where  they  are  delivered  during  the  months  of  June  and 
July,  are  much  heavier  in  the  water  and  much  less  able  to  escape, 
because  they  are  capable  of  remaining  under  water  to  escape  for  a  very 
much  less  period  of  time  than  when  they  are  not  heavy  with  young,  or 
than  the  male  seal  would  be.  (T.  F.  Morgan.) 

It  is  harder  to  take  an  old  seal  than  a  young  one,  the  older  ones  being 
anore  on  the  alert  and  are  not  less  active  when  pregnant.  ( W.  Koberts.) 

Of  the  seals  killed,  from  60  to  70  per  cent  are  females,  which,  during 
their  northerly  migration,  are  heavy  with  young,  slow  of  movement, 
and  require  an  extra  amount  of  rest  and  sleep,  thus  largely  increasing 
their  liability  to  successful  attack.  (Z.  L.  Tanner.) 

I  have  been  told  that  it  is  easier  to  catch  the  female  seal  at  sea  than 
it  is  to  catch  the  male  seal,  but  I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  that 


248  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIIULOF    ISLANDS. 

point.  I  suppose,  however,  that  there  must  be  some  foundation  for  the 
statement  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  so  small  a  proportion  of  male  adult 
seals  are  included  in  what  is  called  the  northwest  catch.  ( Kmil 
Teichmann.) 

The  cows  are  less  active,  sleep  more,  and  are  more  easilv  captured. 
(]\I.  Thlkahdaynahkee.) 

Cow  seals  sleep  sounder  on  the  water,  are  less  active,  and  are  easily 
captured.  (James  Unatajim.) 

Cows  are  more  easily  captured  because  they  have  pups.  (Kudolph 
Walton.) 

They  are  less  active,  sleep  more,  and  are  easier  captured.  (Charlie 
Wank.) 

It  is  my  opinion  that  female  seals  are  more  easily  captured  and 
appear  to  be  more  tame  than  the  male  seal,  and,  I  think,  sleep  more. 
(P.  S.  Weittenhiller.) 

The  large  proportion  of  females  killed  in  the  North  Pacific  is  due  to 
the  fact,  as  I  explained  before,  that  males  pursue  their  way  to  the 
hauling  grounds  with  dispatch,  while  the  females  are  more  leisurely  in 
their  movements  and  take  frequent  rests.  (T.  T.  Williams.) 

DECREASE   OF   SEALS. 

Percentage  loxt  of  *m/.v  killed. 

From  my  experience  1  am  satisfied  that  33£-  per  cent  shot  with  a  shot- 
gun are  lost,  and  when  a  rifle  is  used  a  larger  per  cent  are  lost  when 
killed.  (Peter  Anderson.) 

We  lost  three  out  of  four  we  killed.     (H.  Andricius.) 

On  an  average,  we  saved  one  out  of  three  that  were  killed.  (Bern 
hardt  Bleidner.) 

It  is  my  honest  belief  that  for  every  fur-seal  skin  obtained  by  pelagic 
sealers  at  least  five  other  seals' lives  are  taken.  (»J.  A.  Bradley.) 

During  the  trip  of  1S91  I  don't  think  we  got  more  than  one  seal  out 
of  six  that  we  killed;  many  were  wounded,  and  others  were  shot 
dead  and  sank  before  the  boat  could  get  to  them.  (Thomas  Brown.) 

Native  hunters  secure  about  one-third  of  all  fur  seals  killed  at  sea. 
while  in  my  belief  white  hunters  secure  even  a  less  number  in  propor- 
tion to  those  killed.  (M.  Cohen.) 

An  average  hunter  will  get  one  out  of  four  of  breaching  seals  and  one 
out  of  three  of  sleepers  that  he  kills,  but  a  common  hunter  will  not  get 
so  many.  (Peter  Collins.) 

And  that  a  vast  number  of  the  seals  killed  by  them  are  lost.  (Lean- 
der  Cox.) 

It  is  my  experience  that  very  few,  if  any,  seals  were  lost  by  the  hunters 
who  use  the  spear,  but  fully  75  per  cent  of  all  those  killed  by  the  rifle 
were  lost.  (James  Dalgarduo.) 

From  my  observation  of  the  methods  employed  by  the  open-sea  hunters 
I  believe  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  those  killed  by  them  are  lost. 
I  have  often  heard  sealers  so  express  themselves,  They  have  said  to 
me  that  they  get  only  about  one  out  of  five  shot  or  killed;  others  made 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  249 

the  loss  still  greater.     I  think  the  latter  statement  more  nearly  correct. 
(M.  <J.  Krskine.) 

Of  seals  killed,  about  four  out  of  live  are  saved.     (F.  F.  Feeny.) 

An  experienced  hunter  like  myself  will  get  two  out  of  three  that  he 
kills,  but  an  ordinary  hunter  would  not  get  more  than  one  out  of  every 
three  or  four  that  he  kills.  (Thomas  Gibson.) 

I  lose  about  50  per  cent  when  I  use  the  shotgun,  and  more  are  lost 
when  rifle  is  used.  I  always  shoot  them  in  the  head  when  possible,  but 
if  not  possible,  I  shoot  them  in  any  part  of  the  body  that  is  exposed. 
(GonasUit.) 

About  50  per  cent  are  lost  when  killed  with  a  shotgun,  and  a  larger 
per  cent  when  ritle  is  used.  (James  Gondowen.) 

The  hunters  would  get,  on  an  average,  one  out  of  every  four  they 
killed.  (.James  Grymes.) 

On  an  average,  I  think  the  hunters  will  save  about  one  out  of  three 
that  they  kill,  but  they  wound  many  more  that  escape  and  die  after- 
wards. (James  Harrison.) 

Formerly  the  seals  were  gentle  and  the  approach  of  a  vessel  did  not 
even  alarm  them,  but  when  firearms  came  into  use  it  so  frightened  them 
that  they  had  to  be  shot  at  long  range,  entailing  a  loss  of  not  less  than 
three  out  of  every  four  or  five  killed.  (M.  A.  Healy.) 

My  experience  convinces  me  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  seals  now 
killed  by  shooting  with  ritles  and  shotguns  are  lost.  My  estimate  would 
be  that  two  out  of  every  three  killed  are  lost.  Formerly  the  killing  was- 
done  by  spearing,  and  in  later  years  it  was  learned  that  shooting  them 
was  a  swifter  method  of  killing.  At  the  start  the  hunters  were  inex- 
perienced and  a  large  proportion  were  lost.  (James  Kiernan.) 

I  use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal,  and  sometimes  I  lose  one  or  two  out 
of  ten  that  I  kill.  (James  Klonacket.) 

I  have  made  it  mv  business  to  find  out  what  proportion  of  skins  of 
seals  killed  are  really  brought  into  the  market,  and  from  the  informa- 
tion which  I  obtained  from  the  sealers,  hunters,  and  those  owning  the 
skins  I  learned  that  on  an  average  only  about  one  out  of  six  killed  was 
secured,  varying  with  the  expertness  of  the  hunter.  (George  Liebes.) 

The  number  of  seals  actually  secured  to  the  number  killed  doe& 
not  exceed  about  one  in  four,  or  about  one  is  taken  for  every  three 
destroyed,  varying,  of  course,  with  the  skill  and  experience  of  the 
hunters.  (Isaac  Liebes.) 

From  these  conversations  I  should  judge  they  did  not  secure  more 
than  one  hall  of  the  seals  killed;  and  this,  I  think,  is  a  large  estimate 
of  the  number  secured  (A.  P.  Loud.) 

I  have  frequently  noticed,  in  the  harbor  of  Petropaulovsky,  that  the 
natives,  in  killing  hair  seals,  are  only  able  to  obtain  one  animal  out  of 
every  four  or  five  of  those  killed,  and  that  they  frequently  wait  about 
four  days  for  the  bodies  to  be  washed  ashore.  (John  Malowansky.) 

None  1  lost  when  1  used  spear.  About  20  per  cent  are  lost  when 
killed  with  shotgun.  (Nashtau.) 

An  experienced  A  Xo.  1  seal  hunter,  in  shooting  sleeping  seals  with 
a  shotgun,  will  get  a  large  proportion  of  what  he  kills,  and  will  get  one 


250  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

out  of  four  breaching-  seals  that  he  kills;  but  an  ordinary  common 
hunter  like  myself  will  sometimes  use  ten  cartridges  and  not  get  one 
seal.  1  can  safely  say  that  a  common  hunter  will  only  get  one  seal  out 
of  three.  (Niles  Kelson.) 

The  white  hunters  who  used  guns  in  Bering  Sea  were  banging  away 
at  the  seals  sometimes  all  day  long,  and  they  would  lose  a  great  many 
of  those  that  they  shot.  I  do  not  think  that  they  brought  to  the 
schooner  one-half  of  those  that  they  killed,  to  say  nothing  of  those  that 
they  wounded  and  got  away.  (Osly.) 

But  since  it  has  become  the  practice  to  hunt  seals  with  guns  a  good 
many  are  killed,  wounded,  and  lost.  Green  hunters  bang  away  and 
wound  more  than  they  kill,  and  will  shoot  six  or  seven  before  they 
.get  one,  and  sometimes  more.  Good  hunters  will  do  much  better.  I 
used  to  get  most  of  the  seals  I  killed,  but  I  have  killed  live  dead  in 
succession  and  lost  the  whole  of  them.  (William  Parker.) 

Shotgun  is  exclusively  used  by  me  for  taking  seals.  Lose  about  20 
per  cent  of  those  killed  with  shotgun.  (Abel  llyan.) 

The  captain,  mate,  and  myself  went  out  several  times  with  the  stern 
boat  and  we  killed  15  the  first  time  we  went  out.  I  think  we  went  out 
that  way  three  or  four  times,  and  we  usually  got  one  out  of  four  killed. 
I  recollect  one  day  when  we  were  hunting,  bad  weather  set  up  and  we 
did  not  get  any  seals.  In  good  weather  we  got  more  seals  than  we  did 
in  bad  weather.  (Peter  Simes.) 

And  we  got  one  out  of  five  killed.     (John  A.  Swain.) 

On  my  first  voyage  I  think  we  got  two  out  of  every  five  that  we 
killed.  (Adolph  W.  Thompson.) 

When  seal  were  struck  with  a  spear  none  were  lost;  lose  atfout  50  per 
cent  when  killed  with  shotgun.  (Charlie  Tlaksatan.) 

I  had  in  my  employ  men  who  are  old  seal  hunters  and  who  were  for- 
merly engaged  in  that  business,  and  they  have  often  told  me  that  they 
lost  at  least  two  out  of  every  three  they  killed.  (M.  L.  Washburn.) 

Percentage  lost  of  seal x  struck. 

The  skill  of  the  hunter  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  number  of 
seals  secured  of  those  killed  or  wounded,  but  the  most  expert  does  not 
get  more  than  half  he  hits,  and  the  average  tor  hunters  in  general 
would  be  about  three  in  ten.  (C.  A.  Abbey.) 

We  secure  one  out  of  about  every  five  that  we  shoot  at  or  kill. 
(Charles  Adair.) 

An  experienced  hunter  would  get  one  out  of  every  three  that  he  shot 
or  killed,  and  a  green  hunter  would  get  about  one  out  of  every  seven  or 
eight  that  he  shot  or  killed.  (Charles  Adair.) 

It  has  been  my  custom  in  the  last  few  years  to  examine  the  logs  of 
sealing  vessels  and  to  converse  with  officers  and  hunters  of  such  vessels 
in  order  to  obtain  what  information  I  could  as  to  the  methods  employed 
by  hunters  and  the  loss  of  seals  occasioned  in  such  pursuit.  From  the 
logs  I  learned  that  in  many  instances  100  rounds  of  ammunition  had 
been  fired  to  each  skin  secured,  and  often  more;  and  on  an  average  I 
found  that  not  over  five  seals  to  the  hundred  shots  had  been  obtained. 
The  logs  further  showed  that  a  large  number  had  been  wounded  and 
lost.  I  also  ascertained  from  the  logs  and  from  conversation  with 


SKAL    LIFK    ON    Till:    IMIIBILOF    ISLANDS.  "251 

masters  of  sailing  schooners  tliat  not  one  seal  out  of  ten  killed  or 
wounded  had  been  caught.  These  inquiries  I  pursued  at  San  Francisco 

until  <|nite  recently.  The  chief  killing  by  poachers  was  done  between 
the  passes  of  Aleutian  Archipelago  and  the.  Pribilof  Islands,  (George 
K.  Adams.) 

Have  always  used  a  shotgun  and  rifle  in  taking  seal  since  a  young 
man.  I  rarely  lose  any  seal  I  shoot,  as  I  never  shoot  at  them  unless 
they  are  very  close  to  the  boat.  (Adam  Ayonkee. 

Have  always  used  a  shotgun  for  taking  seal,  and  lose  about  40  per 
cent  of  what  I  shoot.  (Maurice  Bates.) 

No  seal  were  lost  when  struck  with  spear.  About  40  per  cent  of  seal 
shot  with  shotgun  are  lost,  and  more  when  the  rifle  is  used.  (Wilton 
('.  Bennett.) 

I  use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.  I  lose  about  2o  per  cent  of  the 
seals  shot.  (Kdward  Benson.) 

The  spear  and  shotgun  have  been  used  by  me.  But  few  seals  are 
lost  that  are  struck  by  spear.  About  <>G  per  cent  are  lost  when  shot 
with  shotgun,  and  a  larger  proportion  are  lost  when  rifle  is  used.  (Mar- 
tin Benson.) 

On  the  rioncrr  we  had  a  couple  of  good  hunters,  who  would  get 
almost  all  they  shot  at,  while  some  of  our  hunters  would  lose  a  good 
many  that  they  would  kill  and  wound.  A  green  hunter  will  not  get 
more  than  one  out  of  live,  and  I  have  known  one  hunter  on  our  vessel 
who  shot  eight  shots  and  got  only  four  seals.  Indian  hunters  that  use 
spears  seldom  lose  any  that  are  struck,  and  there  is  no  wounded  to  go 
away  and  die.  (Xeils  Bonde.) 

This  year  the  seals  are  wilder  than  the  year  before;  I  think  it  was 
because  they  were  hunted  so  much.  We  did  not  capture  as  many  in 
proportion  to  the  number  shot  as  we  did  the  year  previous,  and  did  not 
save  more  than  one  out  of  six  that  we  shot.  (Thomas  Brown.) 

We  got  on  an  average  three  or  Jive  out  of  every  twelve  killed  and 
wounded.  It  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  weather.  There  were  lots 
of  seals  in  the  water  at  that  time.  (Thomas  Brown.) 

The  average  hunter  would  get  one  out  of  every  three  that  he  shot; 
a  poor  hunter  not  nearly  as  many.  There  are  Ul  buckshot  to  a  shell. 
When  they  are  in  school  sleeping  we  get  a  good  many.  We 
did  not  get  as  many  as  we  shot  at  in  Bering  Sea  as  we  did  on  the  coast. 
If  we  got  one  out  of  everv  three  we  were  doing  prettv  well.  (Charles 
Chalall.) 

1  used  a  shotgun  almost  exclusively  last  season,  and  lost  about  one- 
third  of  all  furs  shot.  (Julius  Christiansen.) 

1  think  about  .">()  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot  with  shotgun  are  lost,  and 
greater  proportion  are  lost  when  shot  with  a  ritle.  (Peter  Church.) 

I  always  use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.  I  think  about  25  per  cent 
•are  lost.  (William  Clark.) 

Over  .~)0  per  cent  are  lost  when  shot  with  shotgun.    (John  C.  Clement.) 

My  observation  of  the  seal  hunting  by  white  hunters  in  1888  is  that 
they  do  not  secure  more  than  two  or  three  out  of  every  hundred  shot. 
The  n umber  of  shots  tired  by  a  hunter  in  an  ordinary  day's  sealing 
is  something  enormous,  and  the  waste  of  seal  life  in  the  water  is 


252  SF.AL     LIFK    ON    THK    I'RIHILOF    ISLANI'S. 

dreadful   to   contemplate.     *  *     The   proportion   of   loss  of  seals 

shot  by  white  hunters  in  the  Otto  was  quite  as  great  in  IS'.H  as  by 
the  hunters  in  the  year  before  stated.  I  have  never  seen  any  black 
pups  in  tlic  North  1'acilic  Ocean.  (Louis  ( 'idler.) 

^  hen  it  was  rough  weather  we  got  one  out  of  <ix  that  we  killed  or 
wounded,  and  in  smooth  weather  we  could  get  on  an  average  one  out  of 
three  and  sometimes  three  out  of  five.  i.John  Mohrn.. 


On  an  average,  all  the  hunters  got  one  out  of  three  or  tour  >eals 
that  they  killed  or  wounded.  There  were  plenty  of  seals  in  tin-  wa:er 
at  that  time.  ;  liichard  1  )olan.  < 

We  ,uot  one  out  of  every  live  or  six  that  we  killed  or  wounded.  We 
wounded  a  great  many  that  we  did  not  get.  ((leor.uc  Fairchild. 

When  I  was  a  young  man  the  I  ndians  used  tin-  spear  for  taking  seals: 
now  they  have  learned  from  the  white  men  to  use  the  shotgun.  About 
three  out  of  ten  are  h»t  that  are  shot.  (  Frank. 

The  hunters  used  rilles  and  shotguns.  They  got  about  one  out  of 
every  six  they  shot  at  or  killed,  and  sometimes  they  got  none.  The 
great  majority  of  them  were  females.  We  used  ritles.  we  had  experi- 
enced hunters  on  board,  and  we  got  one  out  of  every  thiee  killed  or 
wounded,  i  William  Fra/cr. 

O.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  to  t  ho>e  you  dest  roy 
ill  doing  so?  In  other  words,  how  many  do  you  actually  get  of  tho>e 
you  shoot  .'  —  A.  About  ->0  per  cent. 

(,).  Is  it  not  a  tact,  when  you  first  started  in  the  business  and  was 
inexperienced  in  hunting,  that  you.  like  all  other  beginners,  destroyed 
a  much  larger  proportion  than  you  now  do.'  —  A,  Yes:  a  little  more  in 
propo.tion.  (Fdward  \Y.  Funcke.i 

Indians  lose  a  less  number  of  the  seals  shot  at  and  wounded  or 
killed  than  white  hunters.  When  thev  use  spears  thev  get  nearly  all 
they  wound.  When  they  use  shotguns  they  do  not  get  more  than  one 
out  of  ei«i'ht  killed  or  wounded.  In  conversation  with  boat  steerers 
and  boat  pullers  i  have  frequently  heard  them  state  that  hunters  would 
sometimes  tire  from  7.~»  to  H><)  shots  without  bringing1  in  a  single  seal. 
The  hunters  would  claim  they  secured  nearly  all  they  tired  at  or  killed, 
hut  it  is  'unown  that  this  is  not  1  rue.  It  is  impossible  to  say  what  pro- 
portion of  the  seals  tired  at  are  killed  or  wounded,  but  taking  the  run 
<»f  hunters,  u'ood  and  poor.  I  should  say  that  the  best  o-et  about  -~><(  per 

t    do   not  uvt  more  than  one  out 


The  na  t  i  ve  hu  n  ters  used  spears  exclusively  in  hunting  t  he  seals,  and. 
cured    fiillv    two  thirds  of  all  struck.      1  am  of  the  opinion    that  with 

ne  third    of   the    animaN    >hot    are    actuall 


otgun    for  taking  seal,  and    lose  about  -.">   per 
(Henrv    Haldane.) 


I  use  the  >hotgun  exclusively  for  taking  <eal.  About  oT)  per  cent  of 
'  lie  -eal  hit  are  lost.  (  Mart  in  I  lannon.) 

O.  According  to  vour  experience,  what  percentage  of  animals  that 
are  shot  are  actually  taken  by  the  boats  .' — A.  That  depends  a  good 
deal  on  the  man  that  >hootsthem.  Some  fellows  will  miss  four  out  of 
live  and  another  mav  miss  three  out  of  live  and  cripple  them.  I  think 
on  a  general  average  we  will  get  about  three  out  of  live.  (11.  Harmsen.) 


SEAL  LIFI:  ON  nit:  PKIMILOF  ISLAND.-.  253 

(,).  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  to  those  you  destroy 
in  doing  so:  in  other  words,  how  many  do  yon  actually  get  out  of  those 
you  shoot.' — A.  We  get  about  75  per  cent  of  them. 

(v).  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  yon  lirst  started  in  the  business  and 
was  inexperienced  in  hunting,  that  you.  like  many  others,  destroyed  a 
much  larger  proportion  than  you  now  do  .' -A.  Yes,  sir:  it  is.  (Andrew 
J.  Hoffman.) 

The  shotgun  was  exclusively  used  by  our  hunters.  I  can  form  no 
idea  as  to  the  amount  of  seals  lost.  Some  hunters  lost  more  and  some 
less.  It  ranges  all  the  way  from  10  to  75  per  cent,  according  to  stories 

told  by  hunters.     (O.  Holm.) 

We  used  shotguns,  and  secured  about  two  seals  out  of  five  that  we 
shot.  (Alfred  Irving.) 

The  Indian  hunters  with  spears  would  not  wound  or  lose  but  very  few 
seals  that  they  struck,  but  the  ordinary  white  hunter  will. on  an  average, 
lose  over  half  that  he  kills  and  wounds.  (James  Jamieson.) 

About  40  per  cent  shot  with  shotgun  are  lost.  When  the  ritle  is  used 
a  larger  per  cent  is  lost.  (J.  Johnson.) 

Have  always  used  shotgun  and  rifie  for  taking  seal.  1  never  lose  any 
seal  when  I  shoot  them,  because  I  always  shoot  them  close  to.  (Johnnie 
John  tin.) 

The  spear  and  arrow  were  used  to  take  seal  when  1  was  a  boy.  but 
now  I  use  the  shotgun  and  ritle.  At  least  50  per  cent  are  lost  when  shot 
with  shotgun.  When  rifie  is  used  a  larger  portion  of  seals  are  lost.  (P. 
Kaliiktday.) 

I  always  use  the  shotgun  for  killing  seal.  I  lose  about  four  out  of 
ten  that  I  shoot.  (King  Kashwa.) 

I  always  use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.  Sometimes  I  lose  two  and 
three  out  of  ten  that  I  shoot.  (Jim  Kasooli.) 

Fully  one  half  the  seal  shot  with  shotguns  are  lost,  and  a  much 
larger  proportion  when  the  rifie  is  used.  None  were  lost  when  struck 
with  a  spear.  (Mike  Kethusduck.) 

On  an  average  we  got  one  or  two  out  of  every  six  or  seven  that  we 
wounded  or  killed.  (James  Kennedy.) 

Constant  shooting  has  frightened  them  and  made  them  wild,  so  that 
they  have  to  be  shot  at  great  distances  unless  found  asleep.  Much 
depends  for  successful  hunting  upon  the  weather,  as  it  is  difficult  to 
get  accurate  aim  when  both  the  hunter's  boat  and  the  seal  are  in  motion. 
A  pool-  hunter  does  not  secure  more  than  one  out  of  every  five  shot  or 
aimed  at.  Good  hunters  do  better.  (James  Iviernan.) 

The  first  sighted  was  August  4,  longitude  130  o  32'  west,  latitude 
52  4(i'  north.  During  the  days  following  August  4  canoes  were 
lowered,  but  their  search  for  seals  was  fruitless.  On  August  14,  before 
entering  Bering  Sea,  a  seal  was  speared  by  the  Indians  off  Marmont 
Island,  which  was  bearing  NW.  J  W.  35  miles.  We  eutered  the  sea 
at  (>.30  p.  in.  on  the  22d  day  of  August  and  at  9  o'clock  the  following 
morning  we  got  our  first  seal  in  Bering  Sea.  It  was  shot  by  one  of 
the  white  men  in  a  boat.  We  were  at  this  time  about  25  miles  west  by 
north  of  Northwest  Cape  on  Uuimak  Pass.  On  the  same  day  four 
other  seals  were  shot,  and  three  not  recovered.  Two  sank  and  the 
other  escaped  badly  wounded.  The  following  day  the  captain  shot 


254  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

two,  losing  one,  and  the  other  boat  brought  one  seal  on  board.  On  the 
25th  of  August  we  were  125  miles  southeast  of  St.  George  Island.  The 
Indian  hunters  were  out  all  day  and  brought  in  three  seals,  the  white 
hunters  getting  none.  The  captain  informed  me  that  day  that  the  pre- 
vious year  he  had  taken  in  this  locality  148  seals  in  one  day,  and  that 
one  of  his  hunters  got  38  and  lost  40,  which  he  shot.  The  next  day  the 
two  boats  and  canoes  were  out,  and  the  captain  brought  back  one,  but 
had  shot  and  lost  six  others,  one  of  which  sank.  The  other  boat 
reported  that  they  had  shot  seven,  but  all  sank  before  they  could  get 
them,  the  water  being  so  colored  with  blood  that  it  was  impossible  to 
see  the  bodies  sufficiently  to  recover  them  with  the  gaff.  The  two 
Indians  brought  back  ten  seals,  all  speared.  Out  of  the  number  taken 
on  board  four  were  full  of  milk.  On  the  27th  the  Indians  brought  in 
two  seals  and  the  captain  one,  which  were  all  they  had  seen.  On  the 
29th  seventeen  seals  were  taken;  the  captain  got  three,  having  lost 
two,  killed  or  wounded.  The  other  boat  brought  in  three,  having  lost 
two,  and  the  cook  shot  one  from  the  schooner's  deck.  Out  of  these 
seven  were  females,  which  covered  the  decks  with  milk  while  they  were 
being  skinned.  I  am  convinced  that  at  the  very  least  white  hunters 
lose  50  per  cent  of  the  seals  they  hit,  and  probably  the  majority  of  j 
those  wounded  will  ultimately  die.  (Francis  B.  King-Hall.) 

When  a  seal  is  struck  with  a  spear  we  never  lose  him.  About  50  per 
cent  are  lost  when  shot  with  a  shotgun.  (Robert  Kooko.) 

About  60  per  cent  of  the  seals  are  lost  when  shot  with  a  shotgun. 
When  rifles  are  used  a  much  larger  proportion  is  lost.  (James  Lacheek.) 

Of  all  the  fur  seals  struck  in  the  entire  season  by  both  implements 
more  than  two-thirds  were  actually  secured,  the  greater  proportion  of 
losses  resulting  from  the  use  of  the  shotgun.  (James  E.  Lennan.) 

The  average  hunter  will  fire  ten  times  to  get  one  seal.  I  think  on  an 
average  he  gets  one  seal  out  of  every  three  killed.  (William  H.  Long.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  to  those  you  destroy 
in  doing  so;  in  other  words,  how  many  do  you  actually  get  out  of  those 
you  shoot? — A.  I  should  say  we  get  about  80  per  cent  of  those  we 
shoot. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  you  first  started  in  the  business  and 
was  inexperienced  in  hunting,  you,  like  all  other  beginners,  destroyed 
a  much  larger  proportion  than  you  now  do? — A.  There  is  no  doubt 
about  that.  (Charles  Lutjens.) 

The  shotgun  was  used  exclusively.  Over  60  per  cent  of  the  seals 
shot  were  lost.  (George  McAlpine.) 

I  think  I  lose  about  66  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot  with  shotguns. 
(J.  D.  McDonald.) 

Taking  the  general  average,  we  would  not  get  more  than  two  seals  out 
of  every  ten  that  the  hunters  shot  at.  Out  of  every  sixty-five  seals 
that  were  brought  aboard  the  schooner  I  got  one,  so  I  tried  to  spear  as 
many  as  I  could  after  they  were  shot.  We  caught  more  seals  in  Bering 
Sea  than  we  did  going  along  the  coast,  as  we  found  more  of  them. 
*  *  *  All  the  seals  that  we  shot  at  in  rough  weather  were  lost.  In 
fine  weather  they  sleep  on  top  of  the  water,  and  we  do  not  lose  so  many 
of  them.  (William  Mclsaac.) 

No  seals  are  lost  that  are  struck  with  spears.  With  a  shotgun  about 
50  per  cent  are  lost.  (James  McKeen.) 


SKAL    LIFE    ON'    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  255 

We  got  about  one  out  ol  every  five  that  we  killed  or  wounded.  There 
was  any  amount  of  them  that  we  shot  and  did  not  get  at  all.  It  seemed 
as  if  a  good  many  got  away.  *  *  *  We  had  some  white  and  Indian 
hunters.  1  do  not  think  that  we  lost  as  many  that  year  in  propor- 
tion to  those  that  we  killed  and  wounded.  They  were  better  hunters. 
(William  McLaughlin.) 

Q.  According  to  your  experience,  what  percentage  of  animals  that 
are  shot  at  are  actually  taken  by  the  boatsl — A.  That  is  according  to  the 
ammunition  that  we  use.  About  one-third  are  taken.  (Daniel  Mc- 
Lean.) 

We  had  Indian  hunters  who  used  shotguns.  The  Indian  hunters  are 
more  expert  than  the  white  hunters  and  they  do  not  lose  so  many 
seals  as  they  kill.  I  think  they  would  get  one  out  of  every  two  or  three 
killed  or  wounded.  (Thomas  Madden.) 

About  50  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot  with  shotgun  are  lost.  (Edward 
Maitland.) 

There  were  six  boats  on  the  vessel.  Some  of  the  boats  would  come 
in  without  a  seal  after  being  out  all  day  long  shooting,  but  they  would 
wound  a  great  many.  On  an  average,  taking  all  the  boats  together, 
they  got  one  out  of  every  five  or  six  that  they  killed  or  shot  at.  We 
wounded  a  great  many  that  we  could  not  get.  (Patrick  Maroney.) 

About  50  per  cent  are  lost  that  are  shot  with  the  shotgun.  (Charles 
Martin.) 

I  do  not  think  they  would  get  more  than  one  seal  out  of  every  six  or 
seven  they  shot,  and  sometimes  only  one  out  of  ten.  (Henry  Mason.) 

Our  hunter  was  a  good  one.  His  name  was  Joe  Williams.  I  think 
he  got  one  out  of  every  three,  on  an  average.  He  used  a  rifle  a  good 
deal,  and  was  a  fine  shot.  Some  of  the  hunters  in  the  other  boats  would 
shoot  at  the  seal  and  not  get  any  at  all,  and  come  in  at  night  without 
any,  or  maybe  one  or  two.  There  was  one  hunter  from  Xova  Scotia  that 
did  not  kill  any,  scarcely.  (William  Mason.) 

I  think  about  33  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot  with  a  shotgun  are  lost. 
(E.  Miner.) 

About  20  per  cent  of  the  seals  I  shoot  with  shotgun  are  lost.  ( Amos 
Mill.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken,  compared  to  those  you  destroy 
in  doing  so;  in  other  words,  how  many  do  you  actually  get  out  of  those 
you  shoot? — A.  About  75  per  cent.  We  lose  about  25  per  cent. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  you  first  started  in  the  business  and 
were  inexperienced  in  hunting,  that  you,  like  all  other  beginners, 
destroyed  a  much  larger  proportion  than  you  do  now? — A.  Certainly; 
there  is  no  doubt  about  that.  (Frank  Moreau.) 

From  my  knowledge  of  the  aquatic  habits  of  the  seal,  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  accurate  shooting  when  the  object  is  in  the  water,  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  a  large  number  of  seals  are  killed  by  vessels  engaged  in 
the  business  of  taking  seals  in  the  open  seas  which  are  not  caught.  I 
am  unable  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  number  of  seals  shot  or  speared 
from  vessels  which  are  lost,  but  in  the  last  two  or  three  years  of  my 
residence  at  St.  George  Island,  in  taking  15,000  seals,  I  found  approxi- 
mately three  pounds  of  lead,  in  the  form  of  slugs,  bullets,  and  buck- 
shot, which  I  personally  took  from  the  bodies  of  male  seals,  some  of 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

which  were  so  badly  wounded  that  they  would  have  died.  I  have  per- 
sonally examined  the  log  of  the  schooner  Ant/el  DoUic,  in  which  it  was 
stated  that  the  hunters  from  that  vessel  got  about  one  seal  out  of  every 
ten  shot  ;it;  also  that  on  one  occasion  they  tired  250  rounds,  and  got 
20  seals;  on  another  occasion  100  cartridges,  and  got  <>  seals,  and  which 
log  also  stated  that  the  captain  personally  shot  and  killed  7  seals,  of 
which  he  got  only  one.  (T.  F.  Morgan.) 

They  lost  very  few  of  the  seals  they  speared.  They  secured  about 
all  of  the  seals  they  speared.  (John  Morris.) 

When  in  Bering  Sea,  I  had  an  opportunity  to  observe  the  difference 
in  the  number  of  seals  lost  by  killing  them  with  shotguns  and  by  taking 
them  with  spears.  The  hunters  that  used  shotguns  lost  more  than  one- 
half  they  shot,  while  the  hunters  that  used  spears  seldom  ever  lost  one 
that  they  hit.  (Moses.) 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  Indian  hunters  in  the  use  of  the 
spear  seldom  lose  one  they  kill  or  wound.  (Morris  Moss.) 

When  1  was  a  boy  1  used  a  shotgun  for  taking  seal,  bought  from  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  at  Fort  Simpson,  and  have  always  used  a  shot- 
gun for  sealing.  1  think  about  two  out  of  ten  seal  shot  are  lost.  (Smith 
Natch.) 

Sometimes  I  lose  two  and  sometimes  three  seal  out  of  ten  1  shoot. 
(Dan  Nathlan.) 

It  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  weather  as  to  the  amount  of  seals 
obtained  by  the  hunters.  After  a  heavy  blow  you  see  the  seals  lying 
on  top  of  the  water  asleep,  and  you  can  get  very  close  to  them,  and  on 
an  average  you  would  get  two  or  three  out  of  every  five  or  six  you  kill 
or  wound,  while  in  rough  weather  you  would  not  get  one  out  of  live  or 
six  killed  or  wounded.  (John  O'Brien.) 

Xot  being  hunters  of  experience,  our  men  lost  about  two  thirds  of 
all  the  seal  shot.  Good  hunters  would  not  lose  to  exceed  25  per  cent. 
(Nelson  T.  Oliver.) 

We  used  shotguns,  using  buckshot,  and  I  have  known  twenty  shots 
to  be  tired  at  a  seal  before  we  got  her.  When  we  shot  at  "  sleepers'7 
we  got  a  good  many  more  than  when  we  shot  at  "bachelors"  or  "roll- 
ers," and  we  secured  on  an  average  about  one  out  of  every  three  killed 
and  wounded.  The  percentage  of  loss  of  those  killed  and  wounded  is 
fully  as  great  as  1  have  stated.  (John  Olsen.) 

WTheu  the  rifle  is  used  less  than  one  seal  for  five  shots  is  secured; 
many  shots  miss,  but  of  those  seals  hit  about  one  half  are  secured. 
(W.  Roberts.) 

It  is  very  hard  to  estimate  the  number  lost  of  those  shot,  but  I  should 
judge  an  expert  hunter  would  lose  certainly  from  40  to  GO  percent,, 
and  a  hunter  not  particularly  expert  would  lose  from  80  to  85  per  cent. 
(L.  G.  Shepard.) 

In  some  instances  we  ran  upon  schools  of  seal  and  shot  five  or  six, 
all  of  which  would  be  lost;  in  other  instances  we  would  secure  about 
one-half  of  those  wounded.  One-half  of  all  seals  shot  on  the  coast  are 
lost.  (William  Short.) 

About  25  per  cent  are  lost  when  shot  with  a  shotgun,  and  more  are 
lost  when  shot  with  rifle.  Shotgun  and  rifle  are  used  by  me  for  taking 
seal.  (Jack  Shucky.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  257 

When  1  used  a  spear  none  were  lost  that  were  struck.  When  shot- 
gun is  used  nearly  50  per  cent  are  lost;  when  rifle  is  used  a  still  larger 
percentage  is  lost.  (Martin  Singay.) 

No  seal  were  lost  when  struck  with  spear  or  arrow.  Fully  50  per 
cent  of  seal  shot  with  shotgun  are  lost,  and  a  much  larger  per  cent  are 
lost  when  shot  with  a  rifle.  (Jack  Sitka.) 

Always  use  a  Hudson  Bay  gun  to  take  seal  with.  A  Hudson  Bay 
gun  is  a  single-barreled  shotgun.  Sometimes  1  lose  one  and  sometimes 
two  out  of  ten  that  are  shot.  (Thomas  Skowl.) 

I  think  about  one-third  of  the  seal  shot  with  shotgun  are  lost.    (Fred 

Smith.) 

Very  few  are  lost  when  struck  with  a  spear.  About  66  per  cent  are 
lost  when  shotgun  is  used.  (William  H.  Smith.) 

An  ordinary  hunter  will  not  get  more  than  one  out  of  four  that  he 
shoots  at.  (Cyrus  Stephens.) 

About  25  per  cent  of  seals  shot  are  lost.     (Joshua  Sticklaud.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  to  those  you  destroy 
in  doing  so;  in  other  words,  how  many  do  you  actually  get  out  of  those 
you  shoot? — A.  I  guess  we  get  hardly  two-thirds  of  what  we  shoot. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  you  first  started  in  the  business  and 
was  inexperienced  in  hunting,  that  you,  like  all  other  beginners, 
destroyed  a  much  larger  proportion  than  you  do  now? — A.  It  is. 

I  have  always  understood  that  33  per  cent  of  seals  shot  with  shotguns 
re  lost.     (W.  Thomas.) 

The  hunters  use  shotguns  and  rifles  exclusively  for  taking  seal.  I 
link  that  from  what  I  have  been  able  to  learn  about  half  the  seal  shot 
e  lost,  the  hunters  being  unable  to  secure  them  before  they  sink, 
oh  11  C.  Tolman.) 

About  60  per  cent  of  the  seal  shot  with  shotgun  are  lost.  A  much 
rger  per  cent  is  lost  when  rifle  is  used.  (Peter  Trearsheit.) 

I  get  most  all  the  seals  that  I  hit  with  the  spear.  I  lose  one-half  of 
ose  I  shoot  with  a  gun.  (John  Tysum.) 

When  the  spear  was  used  all  seal  speared  were  secured.  About  50 
;r  cent  of  the  seals  are  lost  when  shot  with  shotgun.  Whenever  I 
ive  used  a  rifle  for  shooting  seal  a  much  larger  proportion  of  those 
lied  have  been  lost  on  account  of  shooting  them  at  a  longer  distance 
om  the  boat.  (James  Unatajiin.) 

I  think  I  generally  lose  about  75  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot  with  shot- 
in.  (George  Usher.) 

I  have  learned  from  personal  observation  and  from  conversations 
ith  parties  that  they  lose  in  killed  and  wounded  at  least  two  out  of 
very  three  obtained.  Other  sealers  have  told  me  that  their  loss  is 
uch  greater.  (Charles  T.  Wagner.) 

About  50  per  cent  are  lost  when  shot  with  shotgun.  When  rifle  is 
*ed  a  much  larger  per  cent  is  lost.  (Rudolph  Walton.) 

I  have  often  conversed  with  the  hunters  relative  to  the  percentage 
*  the  loss  of  seals  to  those  taken,  and  some  tell  me  they  get  one  out  of 
re  or  six.  (Elkan  Wasserman.) 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 17 


258  SEAL    LIFK    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

My  hunters  use  shotgun  exclusively.  They  carry  a  rifle  with  them 
in  the  boat,  but  have  not  used  one  this  season  to  my  knowledge.  I 
think,  as  near  as  I  can  estimate,  about  33£  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot 
are  lost.  (P.  iS.  Weittenhiller.) 

From  my  knowledge  and  experience  in  the  business  it  is  my  convic- 
tion that  within  the  last  few  years,  since  the  sealers  have  become  so 
numerous  in  the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  that  not  more  than  one  out  of 
three  are  secured.  (Michael  White.) 

I  always  use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.  I  think  I  lose  about  five 
out  of  every  ten  that  I  shoot.  (Billy  Williams.) 

That  for  every  three  sleeping  seals  killed  or  wounded  in  the  water 
only  one  is  recovered.  For  every  six  traveling  seals  killed  or  wounded 
in  the  water  only  one  is  recovered.  (Theo.  T.  Williams.) 

Sometimes  I  lose  one  and  sometimes  two  out  of  ten  that  I  shoot  with 
a  shotgun.  (Fred.  Wilson.) 

When  the  spear  was  used  very  few  seal  were  lost.  About  50  per 
cent  are  lost  when  shot  with  shotgun.  A  larger  per  cent  are  lost  when 
killed  with  a  rifle.  I  use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal,  and  lose  about 
two  out  of  ten  that  I  shoot.  (Billy  Yeltachy.) 

Sometimes  I  lose  one  and  sometimes  two  out  of  every  ten  that  I 
shoot.  I  always  shoot  the  seal  close  to  the  boat,  so  I  don't  lose  many. 
(Hastings  Yethnow.) 

The  shotgun  is  used  altogether  for  taking  seal.  About  33 J  per  cent 
of  the  seal  shot  are  lost.  (Alf.  Yohausen.) 

Always  use  shotgun  for  taking  seal.  I  lose  but  very  few  seal,  as  I 
always  shoot  them  very  close  to  the  boat.  (Paul  Young.) 

Have  always  used  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.  Think  I  lose  about 
three  out  of  ten  of  those  I  shoot.  (Walter  Young.) 

In  hunting  with  spears  I  capture  nearly  all  that  I  hit.  (Thomas 
Zolnoks.) 

Wounding. 

Those  only  wounded,  whether  fatally  or  otherwise,  dive  and  escape 
capture.  The  less  severely  wounded  may,  and  in  many  cases  doubtless 
do,  recover  from  their  wounds;  but,  in  the  nature  of  things,  many 
others  must  die  of  their  injuries.  There  is  a  wide  range  of  chances 
between  an  instantaneously  fatal  or  disabling  shot  and  a  slight  wound 
from  which  the  victim  may  readily  recover,  with  obviously  a  large  pro- 
portion of  them  on  the  fatal  side  of  the  dividing  line.  (Dr.  J.  A.  Allen.) 

A  good  many  of  the  seals  that  I  have  caught  in  the  last  three  or  four 
years  have  shot  in  them  and  some  have  been  badly  wounded.  I  have 
seen  white  hunters  shooting  seals  out  in  the  sea,  and  they  lose  a  great 
many  more  than  they  get,  and  we  sometimes  capture  some  of  those  that 
they  have  badly  wounded.  (Bowra-chup.) 

Have  caught  a  great  many  seals  that  had  shot  in  them.  (Peter 
Brown.) 

We  often  take  seals  that  have  been  wounded  with  a  rifle  or  shotgun  r 
and  in  their  bodies  there  are  a  large  number  of  shot.  (James  Clap- 
lanhoo.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  259 

A  good  many  are  wounded  and  escape,  only  to  die  afterwards.  (Alfred 
Dardean.) 

When  I  get  seals  now  a  great  many  have  shot  in  them,  a  thing  I  never 
saw  before  until  about  six  or  seven  years  ago.  (Frank  Davis.) 

Some  that  I  shoot  are  wounded  and  get  away,  and  probably  die.  I 
have  caught  a  good  many  seals  that  had  shot  in  them.  (Kllabush.) 

They  kill  and  wound  a  great  many  that  they  do  not  get.  I  have 
speared  a  great  many  seals  that  had  shot  in  them.  (Selwish  Johnson.) 

I  know  that  a  great  many  must  be  lost  by  the  white  hunters,  for  a 
great  many  that  I  catch  have  shot  in  them,  and  some  are  badly  wounded. 
(James  Lighthouse.) 

During  the  killing  season  on  the  Commander  Islands  we  frequently 
find  in  the  bodies  both  bullets  and  shot.  (John  Malowowansky.) 

I  have  captured  a  great  many  seals  with  the  spear  and  found  shot  in 
them.  (John  Tysum.) 

When  they  were  wounded  we  had  to  chase  them,  and  then  sometimes 
would  not  get  them.  (Patrick  Maroney.) 

While  out  seal  hunting  last  year  I  captured  a  few  seals  that  the  white 
hunters  had  wounded  and  lost,  and  found  a  good  many  shot  in  their 
>odies.    I  have  captured  a  good  many  seals  lately  that  had  buckshot 
n  them.     (Charley  White.) 

At  the  times  when  the  male  seals  are  on  the  rookeries  the  large 
catches  are  made.  A  traveling  seal  is  alert,  cautious,  quick  of  hearing, 
and  easily  disturbed.  A  sleeping  seal  is  at  the  mercy  of  anyone.  The 
arge  proportion  of  traveling  seals  shot  at  and  lost  is  due  to  the  timidity 
of  the  animal ;  in  fact,  all  the  hunters  admit  that  when  there  is  much 
shooting  going  on  the  seals  are  very  difficult  to  get.  The  loss  of  sleep- 
ng  seals,  which  I  estimate  as  two  lost  for  one  saved,  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  unless  the  bullet  or  shot  kills  the  animal  instantly  it  will  immedi- 
ately dive,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  kill  a  seal  instantly.  The  head  of  the 
seal  affords  but  a  small  mark.  Even  in  the  case  of  a  sleeper,  the 
motion  of  the  water  keeps  it  moving.  The  boat  from  which  the  hunter 
shoots  is  also  moving,  and  while  there  are  men  who  at  a  distance  of  50 
or  60  yards  can  shoot  a  small  object  under  such  circumstances,  they 
are  extremely  rare.  They  are  famous  as  experts  and  they  are  highly 
rewarded  for  their  skill.  Certainly  not  one  in  ten  of  all  the  seal  hunters 
can  truthfully  assert,  nor  do  they  attempt  to  do  so  when  in  a  confiden- 
tial humor,  that  they  kill  50  per  cent  of  their  seals  dead.  I  was  in  the 
company  of  a  number  of  them  in  Victoria,  in  1889,  and  heard  them 
balking  among  themselves  of  their  prowess.  Some  put  forward  claims 
which  the  others  derided.  Any  estimate  in  excess  of  the  one  I  have 
already  given  called  forth  uncomplimentary  remarks  and  charges  of 
boastfulness.  The  disinclination  of  these  men  to  state  the  absolute 
facts,  and  they  alone  know  what  the  facts  are,  in  relation  to  the  num- 
ber of  seals  shot  and  lost,  has  been  intensified  lately  by  the  feeling 
that  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  make  a  good  showing  to  back  up  the 
claim  that  pelagic  sealing  is  not  absolutely  of  the  seal  herd.  (Thomas 
T.  Williams.) 

Many  of  the  seals  I  have  speared  had  shot  and  bullets  in  them. 
This  was  never  seen  before  until  about  eight  years  ago,  and  now  it  is 
a  frequent  occurrence.  (Wispoo.) 

A  great  many  that  I  have  caught  in  the  last  three  or  four  years  have 
shot  in  them,  and  many  have  been  badly  wounded.  (Thomas  Zolnoks.) 


260  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Percentage  lost — General  statements. 

We  had  a  row  oil  board  because  some  of  the  hunters  were  green 
hands  and  the  men  would  not  go  out  in  the  boats  with  them.  They 
took  the  hunters  out  of  our  boats  and  put  them  into  the  other  boats 
that  made  no  catch,  and  then  we  kicked  that  they  should  put  the  green 
hunters  into  our  boats,  because  everything  they  would  shoot  would  sink 
on  them  and  be  lost.  (Charles  Adair.) 

The  destrueti  ven  ess  to  seal  life  by  pelagic  hunting  is  very  great.  The 
majority  of  seals  killed  are  pregnant  females,  so  that  two  lives  are  often 
sacrificed  in  securing  one  skin.  This  is  true  whether  firearms  or  spears 
are  used.  In  addition  to  this,  the  number  of  skins  marketed  does  not 
represent  the  number  actually  destroyed,  for  many  are  killed  that  are 
not  secured,  while  others,  though  fatally  wounded,  still  possess  strength 
enough  to  escape  their  pursuers.  (A.  B.  Alexander.) 

Of  those  killed  the  number  saved  varies  with  the  skill  of  the  hunters. 
Last  year  we  lost  very  few.  (Charles  A  very.) 

A  very  few  are  lost  when  shot  with  the  shotgun,  as  we  shoot  them 
close  to  the  boat.  (Johnny  Baron  ovitch.) 

In  hunting  with  the  spear  we  don't  lose  many  that  we  hit.  I  never 
hunted  with  guns.  (Peter  Brown.) 

Experienced  hunters  lose  very  few  seal  that  are  shot,  but  beginners 
lose  a  great  many.  (Charles  Campbell.) 

As  to  the  percentage  of  seals  lost  in  pelagic  sealing  where  the  use  of 
firearms  is  employed,  I  am  not  able  to  state  of  my  own  observation  and 
experience,  but  from  conversation  with  those  engaged  in  the  business  I 
am  of  the  opinion  that  the  number  secured  is  small  compared  with 
those  lost  in  attempts  to  secure  them.  (W.  C.  Coulson.) 

None  were  lost  when  the  spear  was  used.  When  the  shotgun  is  used 
sometimes  they  are  lost.  A  few  more  are  lost  when  rifle  is  used. 
(Charlie  Dahtlin.) 

Were  I  engaged  at  present  in  sealing  I  should  prefer  the  spear  to  the 
rifle  or  shotgun,  and  I  believe  its  use  is  not  near  so  destructive  to  seal 
life.  (James  Dalgarduo.) 

The  Indians  have  always  hunted  seal  with  a  shotgun,  and  lam  sorry 
to  say  that  they  have  killed  a  great  many  more  than  they  secured. 
(William  Duncan.) 

From  the  ammunition  we  furnished  them  I  learned  that  some  of  the 
hunters  on  an  average  used  from  two  to  three  rounds  of  shot  to  a  seal, 
while  others  used  from  forty  to  fifty  rounds.  (George  Fogel.) 

Have  always  used  the  shotgun  for  killing  seal,  and  but  very  few  are 
lost.  (Chief  Frank.) 

Have  always  used  spear  for  taking  seal,  and  but  very  few  are  lost. 
(Chad  George.) 

A  very  large  number  of  shots  are  thrown  away.  In  the  case  of  the 
Thistle,  in  her  voyage  of  1891,  she  brought  in  but  nine  skins,  while  her 
hunters  had  fired  away  260  pounds  of  shot.  She  had  poor  hunters. 
(E.  M.  Greenleaf.) 

That  in  pelagic  sealing  twice  as  many  seals  are  lost  as  are  captured. 
(W.  P.  Griffith.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  261 

Always  shoot  the  seal  close  to  the  boat  and  rarely  lose  one;  but  when 
shot  at  with  the  rifle  I  lose  a  good  many.  (Hooniah  Dick.) 

I  have  always  used  spears  in  hunting  seals,  and  seldom  wounded  or 
hit  one  that  1  did  not  get  until  in  1801,  which  year,  and  the  only  one, 
1  went  to  Bering  Sea,  and  used  the  shotgun  part  of  the  time.  I  found 
in  the  use  of  the  shotgun  that  a  great  many  of  the  seals  that  were 
killed  or  wounded  were  lost.  (Alfred  Irving.) 

We  lose  but  very  few  seals  that  we  hit  with  a  spear.     (Selwish  Johnson.) 
When  seals  were  struck  with  a  spear  none  were  lost;  a  great  many 

are  lost  when  the  shotgun  is  used.     (C.  Klananeck.) 

I  have  often  heard  them  say  that  they  only  get  two  or  three  out  of  a 
school,  and  when  they  kill  them,  if  they  do  not  get  them  right  away, 
they  will  sink  and  be  lost.  Further,  that  they  lose  a  good  many  that 
they  kill.  (James  Lafkin.) 

Q.  Do  you  generally  shoot  seals  with  a  rifle  or  shotgun? — A.  A  shot- 
gun. Ninety  per  cent  are  killed  with  a  shotgun.  (Frank  Moreau.) 

Always  use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seals.  I  lose  very  few,  as  I  always 
shoot  them  close  to  the  boat.  (Matthew  Morris.) 

I  can  not  say  how  many  seals  are  killed  and  wounded,  but  there  is 
no  doubt  that  green  hunters  lose  many,  while  those  more  experienced 
in  business  lose  fewer.  (Morris  Moss.) 

We  used  the  spear  more  than  the  gun  and  secured  nearly  all  of  them 
that  we  hit  with  it,  but  lost  a  great  many  seals  that  we  shot.  We  pre- 
fer to  use  the  spear,  because  in  so  doing  we  do  not  lose  so  many  or 
frighten  them  away.  (Osly.) 

The  shotgun  is  not  as  fatal  as  the  rifle,  but  it  ruins  the  skins  of  the 
seals.  (Adolphus  Sayers.) 

Breech-loading  firearms  (rifles  and  shotguns)  are  the  instruments 
principally  employed  by  pelagic  fur-seal  hunters,  both  native  and  white. 
By  means  of  these  weapons  a  greater  number  of  skins  are  secured  in  a 
season  than  wTheu  spears  are  used;  but  the  proportion  of  seals  struck 
and  lost  to  those  actually  secured  is  much  less  than  when  the  spear  is 
used.  (John  W.  Smith.) 

The  best  hunter  will  fire  about  20  cartridges,  and  they  get  10  or  12 
seals,  while  a  hunter  of  less  experience  will  fire  100  rounds  and  get 
nothing,  but  will  wound  and  disable  them.  (Adolph  W.  Thompson.) 

I  have  always  used  spears  in  hunting  the  seal,  and  seldom  lose,  any 
I  hit.  (Charley  White.) 

In  attempting  to  determine  the  sex  of  seals  killed  in  the  Bering  Sea 
and  the  North  Pacific,  and  of  the  number  of  seals  killed  in  excess  of 
those  actually  secured  by  the  hunters,  I  had  interviews  with  upward 
of  fifty  seal  hunters,  aside  from  interviews  subsequently  had  with  Indian 
hunters.  I  find  this  portion  of  my  work  by  far  the  most  difficult.  Much 
discussion  had  already  been  had  about  the  damaging  effect  of  pelagic 
sealing,  and  the  hunters  were  loath  to  tell  how  many  seals  were  killed 
and  not  recovered,  and  were  often  averse  to  making  truthful  reports 
about  the  sex  of  the  animals  killed,  but  by  frequenting  their  haunts 
and  cultivating  their  company  for  long  periods  I  succeeded  in  getting 
accurate  statements  from  a  number  of  them.  (Theo.  T.  Williams.) 

I  found  that  at  first  the  hunters  were  disposed  to  brag  of  their  skill 


262  SEAL    LIKE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

and  to  overestimate  their  success  in  securing  skins  of  seals  shot  at. 
The  reason  for  that  was  that  I  was  about  to  engage  in  sealing  enter- 
prises and  that  I  was  making  inquiries  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
their  skill  as  hunters,  with  a  view  to  engaging  them.  The  practice  in 
British  Columbia  is  to  pay  the  best  hunters  the  highest  rate  per  skin. 
Men  who  could  shoot  fairly  well,  but  who  use  a  shotgun,  could  be 
secured  for  a  sealing  voyage  from  $1  to  $1.50  per  skin,  while  hunters 
who  shot  with  a  rifle  and  were  of  recognized  skill  in  some  instances 
were  paid  as  high  as  $_J.50  per  skin,  and,  generally  speaking,  as  high 
as  &2  per  skin.  The  reason  for  this  is  obvious  to  those  who  have  inter- 
ested themselves  in  the  sealing  business.  A  seal  killed  with  buckshot 
is  so  much  punctured  frequently  that  the  pelt  is  of  lesser  value.  It  is 
not  profitable  for  schooners  to  engage  as  hunters  men  who  miss  their 
chances  of  killing  the  seals  and  blaze  away  indiscriminately,  with  small 
results.  Even  though  the  hunter  is  only  paid  for  the  skin  he  recovers, 
the  loss  to  the  vessel  by  his  failure  to  kill  when  an  opportunity  offers 
is  equivalent  to  the  profit  it  would  have  made  on  the  skin  if  secured. 
For  these  reasons  and  on  account  of  the  general  proneness  of  men  who 
consider  themselves  experts  in  the  use  of  any  weapon  to  brag,  the  seal 
hunters  of  British  Columbia,  as  a  class,  grossly  exaggerate  the  percent- 
age of  skins  they  recover  to  the  number  of  seals  aimed  at,  wounded,  or 
killed.  (Theo.  T.  Williams.) 

In  attempting  to  ascertain  exactly  the  number  of  seals  killed  and  lost 
by  the  Bering  Sea  hunters,  I  found  a  wide  divergence  of  statement.  It 
is  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  seal  hunter  to  have  the  reputation  of 
losing  but  few  seals.  He  is  paid  by  the  skin,  and  the  more  he  catches 
the  greater  his  remuneration;  but  that  is  not  all.  The  hunter  with  the 
best  reputation  as  a  sure  catcher  is  in  the  greatest  demand,  can  secure 
employment  in  the  best  schooner,  and  the  largest  sum  of  advance 
money.  Besides  self-interest,  there  comes  vanity  to  urge  the  hunter 
to  make  the  biggest  reputation  possible  for  himself.  To  use  a  common 
expression,  the  seal  hunters  all  brag  about  their  snreness  of  aim.  The 
best  shots  use  a  rifle  and  fire  at  a  range  of  from  50  to  11*5  yards.  The 
poorer  shots  depend  on  a  shotgun  loaded  with  buckshot,  and  will  fire 
at  a  seal  up  to  50  yards  away.  The  Indian  hunters  use  spears,  and 
paddle  noiselessly  up  to  the  sleeping  seal  to  plunge  the  spear  in  its 
shoulder.  They  never  attempt  to  spear  a  seal  that  is  awake.  An 
Indian  hunter  will  paddle  in  among  a  lot  of  "  sleepers"  and  spear  them 
one  after  the  other,  while  a  white  hunter,  who  uses  firearms,  alarms 
every  seal  in  the  neighborhood  at  the  first  discharge.  The  Indians  lose 
about  one-third  of  all  they  spear,  either  from  failure  to  kill  when  they 
strike  or  because  the  dead  seal  sinks  too  quickly  for  them  to  secure  it. 
The  white  hunters  do  not  get  one-half  of  all  they  shoot.  Some  hunters 
are  very  careful  shots  and  will  not  fire  unless  the  seal  is  well  within 
range,  but  the  seal  is  likely  to  sink  before  the  boat  can  get  to  it,  or  if 
wounded,  will  dive  like  a  flash  to  get  away.  A  number  of  hunters  have 
boasted  that  they  secure  95  seals  for  100  shots,  and  some  have  made 
affidavits  of  even  more  wonderful  exploits.  They  presume  too  much 
on  public  ignorance  and  credulity.  (Theo.  T.  Williams.) 

Fortunately,  it  is  not  necessary  to  depend  on  the  statements  of  the  seal 
hunters.  I  secured  access  to  the  ship  accounts  of  several  sealers,  and 
found  that  in  every  case  the  consumption  of  ammunition  showed  more 
than  ten  cartridges  used  for  every  seal  skin  captured.  I  spent  consid- 
erable time  among  the  Siwash  Indian  sealers,  and,  while  they  brag  of 
their  individual  prowess,  they  admitted  a  loss  of  30  per  cent  at  least. 


SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  263 

On  this  subject  I  append  a  statement  made  by  Captain  Olsen,  of  the 
sealing  bark  7&,v.\/V  A'///rr,  at  Victoria. 

Captain  Olsen,  of  the  American  schooner  Bessie  Ruter,  of  Astoria, 
reached  Victoria  September  27,  1881).  In  the  office  of  the  American 
consul.  Col.  K.  Stevens,  he  said:  "I  took  550  skins  in  Bering  Sea.  Of 
these  27  were  pups,  5120  females,  and  3  male  seals,  which  I  killed  oft' the 
island  of  Kadiak.  Most  of  the  female  seals  were  with  young.  I  had 
a  green  crew  and  green  hunters.  They  used  shotguns  and  sometimes 
the  rifle.  They  got  about  one  seal  for  every  three  they  aimed  at.  Some 
they  missed  altogether,  and  some  of  the  wounded  ones  got  away.  There 
is  great  risk  of  losing  a  traveling  seal.  The  sleeping  seals  blow  up  an 
air  bladder  that  keeps  them  from  sinking,  but  the  seals  when  awake  sink 
easily.  Hooks  are  used  to  grapple  them,  but  if  the  boat  is  some  distance 
from  the  seal  when  it  is  killed  it  does  not  often  get  it.  For  that  reason 
rifle  shooting  at  long  range  hardly  pays.  I  will  get  about  $7.75  for  some 
of  my  skins  and  88  for  others.  My  voyage  will  pay,  because  I  ran  the 
boat  on  the  cheap.  1  only  had  two  men  to  the  boat,  and  only  paid  my 
hunters  $1  per  skin  instead  of  $2,  which  is  paid  to  first-class  hunters. 
Some  very  skillful  hunters  do  not  lose  many  skins.  They  will  never 
fire  unless  a  seal  is  at  close  range,  and  they  generally  kill.  Of  course 
they  lose  some  from  sinking.  All  the  hunters  brag  about  how  few  they 
lose,  because  they  want  the  reputation  of  being  good  hunters.  The 
better  reputation  they  have  the  better  chance  they  get. 

If  Bering  Sea  were  open  many  new  men  would  come  into  the  business 
and  the  loss  would  be  greater.  Only  a  few  men  make  successful  hunt- 
ers. It  is  like  being  a  clever  rifle  shot.  If  the  best  hunters  lose  ten 
or  fifteen  in  a  hundred,  the  other  kind  lose  ten  times  as  many,  if  not 
more.  Green  hands  will  throw  away  a  lot  of  ammunition,  shooting  at 
everything  they  see,  whether  it  is  in  range  or  not.  You  can  not  stop 
them.  They  will  wound  more  than  they  kill.  (T.  T.  Williams.) 

DESTRUCTION   OF   NURSING   FEMALES. 

We  entered  Bering  Sea  through  the  Muckawa  Pass  the  1st  of  July, 
and  commenced  hunting  seals  wherever  we  could  find  them,  among 
which  were  a  great  many  cows  giving  milk,  which  we  killed  from  30  to 
150  miles  from  the  islands.  (Charles  Adair.) 

I  have  no  exact  information  as  to  the  proportion  of  male  and  female 
seals  killed  by  pelagic  hunters,  but  it  is  my  firm  conviction,  from  my 
knowledge  of  the  habits  of  the  males  in  not  leaving  the  islands  during 
the  breeding  season,  and  the  well  known  fact  that  mother  seals  go  great 
distances  in  search  of  food  while  nursing  their  young,  that  the  females 
are  slaughtered  in  great  numbers  during  their  jouneys  to  and  from  the 
islands  by  pelagic  hunters.  (George  E.  Adams.) 

And  when  in  Bering  Sea  we  take  seals  from  10  to  120  miles  from  the 
seal  islands.  (William  Bendt.) 

And  the  larger  proportion  of  those  killed  in  Bering  Sea  are  also  cows. 
Have  killed  cow  seals,  with  milk  in  them,  05  miles  from  the  Pribilof 
Islands.  *  *  *  A  few  male  seals  are  taken,  ages  ranging  from  1  to 
5  years.  Once  in  a  while  we  catch  an  old  bull  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
(Martin  Benson.) 

We  came  out  of  Bering  Sea  the  latter  part  of  August  and  had  caught 
about  1,700  seals  between  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  Unalaska.  We 
caught  them  from  10  to  100  or  more  miles  oft'  St.  George  Island.  (Niels 
Bonde.) 


264  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

We  entered  Bering  Sea  the  middle  of  May  and  captured  300  while 
in  there.  Most  of  these  were  mother  seals  with  their  breasts  full  of 
milk.  (Thomas  Bradley.) 

I  hunted  in  Bering  Sea  in  1889  (that  being  the  only  year  I  ever  went 
to  that  sea)  and  hunted  seals  with  spears  about  70  miles  southwest  off 
the  islands,  and  our  catch  was  nearly  all  cows  that  had  given  birth  to 
their  young  and  had  milk  in  their  teats.  (Peter  Brown.) 

Have  killed  cows  with  milk  about  60  miles  off  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
A  few  old  bulls  were  killed  by  me  last  season.  (Charles  Campbell.) 

At  least  seven  out  of  eight  seals  caught  in  Bering  Sea  were  mothers 
in  milk.  (Charles  Challall.) 

We  entered  the  sea  through  the  Unimak  Pass,  and  captured  therein 
about  40  seals,  most  all  of  which  had  milk  in  their  breasts.  (Louis 
Culler.) 

The  waters  were  full  of  them  at  that  time.  We  caught  them  from  50 
to  00  miles  off  the  seal  islands.  (John  Dalton.) 

But  the  seals  I  caught  in  Bering  Sea  were  most  all  cows  in  milk. 
(Frank  Davis.) 

The  proportion  of  female  seals  killed  in  Bering  Sea  is  equally  large, 
but  the  destruction  to  seal  life  is  much  greater,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
when  a  mother  seal  is  killed  her  suckling  pup  left  at  the  rookery  also 
perishes.  Impregnation  having  also  taken  place  before  she  left  the 
rookery  in  search  of  food,  the  fetus  of  the  next  year's  birth  is  likewise 
destroyed.  (James  H.  Douglass.) 

We  left  San  Francisco  and  fished  up  the  coast  until  we  entered  Bering 
Sea,  in  July,  and  sealed  about  the  sea  until  we  were  driven  off  by  the 
revenue  cutter  Corwin.  From  there  we  went  to  the  Copper  Islands. 
Our  whole  catch  amounted  to  900  skins,  and  we  killed  most  of  them  with 
rifles.  We  only  got  about  one  out  of  eight  that  we  shot  at,  and  they 
were  most  all  females  giving  milk  or  in  pup.  When  we  cut  the  hide  off 
you  could  see  the  milk  running  from  the  breasts  of  the  seals.  The 
second  year  we  got  over  1,300  skins ;  some  of  them  were  cows  with  pups 
in  them,  and  most  all  the  rest  were  cows  giving  milk,  and  some  of  the 
latter  we  killed  as  far  from  the  rookeries  as  Unimak  Pass.  (Peter  Duffy.) 

We  entered  Bering  Sea  about  April  and  we  got  795  in  there,  the 
largest  part  of  which  were  mother  seals  in  milk.  When  we  were  skin- 
ning them  the  milk  would  run  on  the  deck.  (John  Fyfe.) 

I  know  that  fully  75  per  cent  of  those  we  caught  in  Bering  Sea  were 
cows  in  milk.  (Thomas  Gibson.) 

My  observation  and  the  information  obtained  from  seal  hunters  con- 
vince me  that  fully  90  per  cent  of  the  seals  found  swimming  in  Bering 
Sea  during  the  breeding  season  are  females  in  search  of  food,  and  their 
slaughter  results  in  the  destruction  of  her  young  by  starvation.  (M.  A. 
Healy.) 

While  in  Bering  Sea  we  cruised  around  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  all 
directions,  often  coming  within  view  of  them  but  never  landing  or  mak- 
ing any  attempt  to  do  so.  The  proportion  of  females  taken  to  males 
was  about  70  per  cent,  more  than  two-thirds  of  these  being  nursing 
cows,  while  the  remainder  were  2  year  olds  and  yearlings.  On  first 
entering  the  sea  an  occasional  pregnant  cow  would  be  taken,  but  this 
was  uncommon.  Of  the  males  taken  in  Bering  Sea  the  numbers  of 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  265 

yearlings  and  very  young  bachelors  was  about  equal;  no  bulls  were 
ever  taken.     (Norman  Hodgson.) 

Those  that  I  secured  in  Bering  Sea  were  nearly  all  females  and  had 
given  birth  to  their  young  and  were  in  milk.  Our  vessel  captured 
about  4<>0  seals  at  a  distance  of  about  100  miles  from  the  Pribilof 
Islands,  most  all  of  which  were  cows  in  milk.  (Alfred  Irving.) 

We  entered  the  sea  and  caught  about  a  thousand  there.  We  sealed 
all  over  on  this  side  of  Bering  Sea,  sometimes  being  over  150  miles  oft 
the  seal  islands,  and  sometimes  we  were  closer.  I  did  not  pay  any 
attention  to  the  proportion  of  females,  but  1  know  we  skinned  a  great 
many  that  were  giving  milk,  because  the  milk  would  run  from  their 
breasts  onto  the  deck  when  they  were  being  skinned.  We  killed  mother 
seals  in  milk  over  100  miles  from  the  seal  islands.  We  generally  shoot 
them  when  they  are  asleep  on  the  water.  *  *  *  We  caught  between 
300  and  400  seals  on  the  coast  and  000  in  Bering  Sea.  We  sealed  on 
the  American  side  of  Bering  Sea  around  the  Pribilof  Islands,  any- 
where from  10  to  150  miles  off.  The  capture  of  181)0  was  about  the 
same  in  proportion  to  sex  as  the  year  before.  (James  Kean.) 

We  entered  Bering  Sea  about  the  latter  part  of  July  and  captured 
2(>0  seals  from  20  to  100  miles  off  the  seal  islands.  A  large  proportion 
of  them  were  females  nursing  their  young  and  their  teats  were  large 
and  full  of  milk.  (James  Kennedy.) 

I  have  observed  that  those  killed  in  the  North  Pacific  were  mostly 
females  carrying  their  young  and  were  generally  caught  while  asleep 
on  the  water.  (James  Kiernan.) 

The  same  day  after  a  chase  of  an  hour  we  were  seized  by  the  U.  S.  S. 
Mohican.  The  total  catch  of  seals  at  the  time  of  seizure  was  48,  and 
at  least  20  were  females,  the  majority  of  which  were  in  milk.  All  the 
seals  were  taken  from  120  to  180  miles  from  St.  George  Island.  (Francis 
E.  King-Hall.) 

When  in  Bering  Sea  we  are  usually  from  50  to  150  miles  from  the 
Pribilof  Islands.  (Andrew  Laing.) 

I  have  killed  females  in  milk  in  Unimak  Pass,  and  even  out  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  200  miles  from  the  land.  (E.  N.  Lawsoii.) 

In  Bering  Sea,  where  we  obtained  about  400  skins,  males  and  females 
in  about  equal  numbers  were  taken.  The  females  were  mostly  nursing 
cows,  while  the  males  were  young  ones,  between  the  ages  of  2  and  5 
years.  (James  E.  Lennan.) 

Another  fact  in  connection  with  open-sea  sealing  is  that  the  great 
majority  of  seals  killed  are  females,  and  that  a  great  part  of  the  females 
are  pregnant,  or  in  milk.  The  milking  females  are  most  all  killed 
while  visiting  the  feeding  grounds,  which  are  distant  40  or  (>0  miles,  or 
even  farther  from  the  islands.  The  female  necessarily  feeds  so  that  she 
can  supply  nourishment  for  her  young,  while  the  males  during  the  sum- 
mer seldom  leave  the  islands.  This  accounts  for  the  large  number  of 
females  killed  in  Bering  Sea.  (A.  P.  Loud.) 

Q.  Did  you  ever  kill  any  seals  later  in  the  season  that  were  giving 
milk? — A.  Yes,  sir.  (Alexander  McLean.) 

Those  we  caught  in  Bering  Sea  were  mostly  all  females  with  milk  in 
their  breasts.  *  *  The  next  season,  1890,  we  got  on  the  way  up 
between  100  and  200  seals,  and  then  we  entered  Bering  Sea  about  the 


266  SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

18th  or  19th  of  July,  and  I  caught  90  seals,  mostly  all  females.  *  *  * 
When  we  were  in  Bering  Sea  we  hunted  from  40  to  200  miles  off  the 
seal  islands.  (Patrick  Maroney.) 

About  two-thirds  of  those  caught  in  Bering  Sea  were  females  that 
had  big  teats  and  were  giving  milk.  We  could  tell  that  when  we  were 
skinning  them,  because  the  milk  would  run  out  on  the  decks.  (Wil- 
liam Mason.) 

We  sealed  around  Unalaska,  but  did  not  go  toward  the  Pribilof 
Islands.  We  caught  1,900  seals,  all  of  which  were  captured  in  the  sea, 
close  to  Uualaska ;  most  all  of  them  were  cows  in  milk ;  but  when  we  first 
entered  the  sea  we  killed  a  few  cows  that  had  pups  in  them.  *  *  * 
That  year  we  sealed  east  of  the  island  and  caught  about  800  seals.  I 
do  not  know  how  far  we  were  from  the  islands,  for  we  could  not  see 
them.  The  seals  we  caught  were  mostly  cows  with  milk.  (Moses.) 

I  was  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  during  July,  August,  and  September, 
1885  and  1886.  I  was  cruising  in  Bering  Sea  around  about  the  Pribilof 
Islands,  and  from  100  to  300  miles  off.  The  principal  portion  of  the 
cruising  was  between  the  Aleutian  and  Pribilof  islands.  One  of  the 
principal  sealing  grounds  is  off  Bogslof.  (Xiles  Nelson.) 

After  entering  the  sea  we  got  one  female  with  a  very  large  pup,  which 
I  took  out  alive  and  kept  it  for  three  or  four  days,  when  it  died,  as  it 
would  not  eat  anything.  All  the  others  had  given  birth  to  their  young, 
and  their  breasts  were  full  of  milk.  (John  Olsen.) 

The  seals  tak°u  in  Bering  Sea  are  nearly  all  grown.  We  get  but  very 
few  young  seals.  I  think  we  catch  in  Bering  Sea  more  males  in  pro- 
portion to  females  than  we  do  on  the  coast.  We  catch  a  good  many 
females  in  Bering  Sea  that  have  given  birth  to  their  young  on  the 
islands  and  are  in  milk.  I  have  caught  plenty  of  cow  seals  in  milk 
100  miles  or  more  from  the  islands,  but  seldom  get  any  that  have  a  pup 
in  them  in  those  waters.  (William  Parker.) 

We  entered  Bering  Sea  about  the  15th  of  August  through  the  Unimak 
Pass  and  captured  therein  1,404  seals,  most  of  which  were  cows  in  milk. 
On  that  voyage  we  caught  female  seals  in  milk  over  80  miles  from  the 
rookeries  where  they  had  left  their  young.  (Charles  Peterson.) 

The  seals  captured  in  Bering  Sea  were  fully  80  per  cent  females  that 
had  given  birth  to  their  young.  A  fact  that  I  often  noticed  was  that 
their  teats  would  be  full  of  milk  when  I  skinned  them,  and  I  have  seen 
them  killed  Irom  20  to  100  miles  from  the  seal  islands.  ( Edwin  P.  Porter.) 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that  the  marauders  kill  females  principally?— 
A.  I  know  that  the  females,  after  giving  birth  to  their  young  on  the 
rookeries,  frequent  the  open  sea  in  search  of  food,  whereas  the  males 
frequent  the  hauling  grounds  or  waters  immediately  around  it.  At 
various  times  I  have  seen  skins  which  were  seized  by  the  cutters  from 
the  poachers,  and  they  were  substantially  female  skins.  ( J.  0.  lied  path.) 

I  have  been  in  Behring  Sea  but  a  part  of  one  season.  Of  the  seals 
taken,  about  one-third  were  males,  one  third  females  with  young,  one- 
third  barren  and  yearlings.  (W.  Roberts.) 

I  have  taken  nursing  females  when  as  much  as  100  miles  from  Prib- 
ilof Islands.  I  estimate  that  the  seals  killed  by  pelagic  hunters  are  at 
least  90  per  cent  females;  this  estimate  is  based  on  the  great  number 
of  motherless  pups  I  have  observed  on  the  rookeries,  and  also  on  state- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  267 

ments  made  to  me  by  many  engaged  in  pelagic  sealing  whom  I  met  and 
conversed  with  at  Uualaska.     (T.  F.  Kyan.) 

\\  e  caught  707  seals  in  Bering  Sea  that  year  (1884)  from  30  to  150 
miles  off  the  seal  islands.  The  most  of  them  were  females,  for  the 
reason  that  they  are  not  as  cute  as  males.  A  great  many  of  the  females 
had  their  breasts  full  of  milk,  which  would  run  out  on  the  deck  when 
we  skinned  them.  *  *  *  My  third  voyage  was  in  1889.  I  sailed 
from  Yokohama  on  the  Arctic,  about  the  latter  part  of  January.  We 
cleared  under  the  American  flag.  *  *  We  entered  Bering  Sea 
about  the  17th  of  May  and  caught  about  900  seals,  the  most  of  them 
around  the  fishing  banks  just  north  of  the  Aleutian  Islands.  The 
majority  of  them  were  mother  seals.  (James  Sloan.) 

The  majority  of  seals  taken  in  Bering  Sea  are  cows  with  milk.  But 
a  very  few  yearlings  are  taken,  and  once  in  a  while  an  old  bull  is  taken. 
The  male  seals  taken  are  between  2  and  4  years  old.  *  *  *  I  have 
taken  female  seals  80  miles  oil'  the  Pribilof  Islands  that  were  full  of 
milk.  (Fred  Smith.) 

Have  killed  cow  seals  that  were  full  of  milk  over  40  miles  from  the 
Pribilof  Islands.  (Joshua  Sticklaud.) 

I  have  never  captured  any  cows  in  milk  along  the  coast,  but  when 
in  Bering  Sea  in  1889  I  sealed  off  about  1)0  miles  from  the  seal  islands 
and  caught  cows  in  milk  there.  (John  Tysum.) 

The  majority  of  seals  killed  in  the  water  are  females,  and  all  the 
females  killed  in  Bering  Sea  are  mothers  who  have  left  their  pups  on 
the  rookeries  and  gone  some  distance  from  the  island  in  search  of  food. 
(Daniel  Webster.) 

Ninety-five  per  cent  of  all  the  seals  killed  in  Bering  Sea  are  females. 
(Theo.  T.  Williams.) 

Thousands  of  the  female  seals  were  captured  by  the  pelagic  hunters 
in  Bering  Sea  during  the  season  of  1891,  the  most  of  which  had  to  be 
secured  quite  a  distance  from  the  rookeries,  owing  to  the  presence  of 
armed  vessels  patrolling  the  sea  for  miles  around  the  islands.  That  the 
slaughter  of  the  seals  was  mostly  of  females  was  confirmed  by  the 
thousands  of  dead  pups  lying  on  the  rookeries,  starved  to  death  by  the 
destruction  of  their  mothers.  (W.  H.  Williams.) 

We  caught  a  few  seals  in  there  (Bering  Sea).  When  we  first  went  in 
we  did  not  see  many,  but  alter  we  were  there  awhile  we  saw  plenty  of 
them  that  had  large  breasts  that  were  full  of  milk,  and  our  catch  were 
most  all  females.  The  average  would  be  about  one  male  to  ten  females. 
We  killed  cows  in  milk  150  miles  from  the  seal  islands.  (John 
Woodruff.) 

DESTRUCTION  OF  FEMALE   SEALS. 

Testimony  of  pelagic  sealers. 

My  experience  in  seal  hunting  is  that  a  much  greater  number  of 
females  are  taken  at  sea  than  males  of  the  fur  seal  species;  and  of  the 
females  the  majority  are  pregnant  or  milking.  (Andrew, Anderson.) 

(,>.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  Yes;  I  have  taken  both  male  and  female 
seals,  but  I  suppose  the  greater  per  cent  that  I  have  taken  would  be 
about  90  per  cent,  or  even  more. 


268  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows! — A. 
About  90  per  cent,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  bulls  are  not  migra 
tpry.  (George  Ball.) 

Most  all  the  seals  taken  by  me  have  been  cows.  I  think  cows  sleep 
more  and  are  more  easily  approached.  Never  killed  but  seven  old  bulls 
on  the  coast  of  Washington  in  my  life,  but  have  taken  a  few  pups  every 
year.  (Wilton  C.  Bennett.) 

Think  the  majority  of  the  seals  taken  are  cows.  Never  killed  but 
two  old  bulls  in  my  life.  Have  killed  quite  a  number  of  yearling  seals 
and  some  young  males  2  or  3  years  old.  (Edward  Benson.) 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  Mostly  females. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A. 
About  80  per  cent.  (Daniel  Clausseu.) 

From  my  experience,  observation,  and  conversation  with  seal  hunters 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  fully  75  per  cent  of  their  catch  are  females. 
(Leander  Cox.) 

I  saw  one  schooner's  catch  examined  at  Unalaska  in  1889,  and  there 
were  found  a  large  percentage  of  female  seals  among  them.  (M.  C. 
Erskine.) 

Of  those  taken  probably  four  out  of  five  are  females.     (F.  F.  Feeny.) 

The  seals  taken  by  them  (the  C.  H.  White  and  the  Kate  Manning) 
were  nearly  all  females.  (George  Fogel.) 

Have  never  killed  an  old  bull  in  my  life,  nor  have  seen  one  the  last 
few  years.  (Luke  Frank.) 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  The  majority  of  them  are  females. 
Last  year  I  killed  72,  and  out  of  the  72  there  was  only  3  males. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A. 
About  90  to  95  per  cent.  (Luther  T.  Franklin.) 

Off  Cape  Flattery  there  is  hardly  a  dozen  large  males  taken  out  of 
every  thousand  large  seals  whose  skins  are  called  first  class;  all  the 
males  taken  here  are  small  ones.  (Thomas  Frazer.) 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  About  90  per  cent  of  them  were 
females. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A. 
About  90  per  cent.  (Edward  W.  Funcke.) 

We  caught  about  100  seals  before  entering  the  sea.  Over  100  of  them 
were  cows.  (John  Fyfe.) 

Caught  1,500  seals  on  that  voyage.  We  caught  some  a  little  ways 
from  Victoria,  and  on  the  way  up  to  Bering  Sea,  but  the  most  of  themr 
about  1,200,  we  caught  in  Bering  Sea.  I  was  told  by  the  men  that  they 
were  nearly  all  females,  and  I  thought  so,  too,  from  the  milk  that  I  saw 
in  their  breasts  when  they  were  on  the  deck.  I  saw  over  a  hundred 
little  pups  taken  from  the  seals,  which  they  threw  overboard.  (George 
Grady.) 

To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief  about  seven  of  every  ten 
seals  killed  in  pelagic  sealing  are  females.  (W.  P.  Griffith.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  269 

Q.  What  sex  are  tbe  seals  taken  by  you  or  usually  killed  by  hunting 
vessels  in  the  North  Pacific  or  Bering  Seat — A.  Mostly  females.  The 
>  bluest  percentage,  I  think,  are  females. 

(,).  What  percentage  of  them  are  cows? — A.  I  couldn't  tell  you. 

Q.  Out  of  100  seals  that  you  would  catch  ordinarily  what  part  of 
them  would  be  cows? — A.  I  am  under  oath,  and  I  could  not  tell  you 
exactly.  All  I  can  say  is  the  greater  portion  of  them.  (Charles  H. 
Hogman.) 

Think  the  seals  taken  by  me  have  been  about  equally  divided  between 
females  and  males.  Have  taken  a  number  of  yearlings  and  some  2  and 
3  year  old  males.  Have  never  killed  an  old  bull.  (Henry  Haldane.) 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea! — A.  Two-thirds  of  them  are  females. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A. 
Two-thirds,  I  should  say.  (William  Henson.) 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  that  you  have  taken  in  the  Pacific  and 
Bering  Sea? — A.  The  seals  that  I  have  taken  were  principally  females. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  them  are  females! — A.  It  is  very  seldom  that 
you  ever  get  hold  of  a  male.  (Gustave  Jsaacman.) 

My  experience  has  been  that  the  sex  of  the  seals  usually  killed  by 
hunters  employed  on  vessels  under  my  command,  both  in  the  ocean  and 
Bering  Sea,  were  cows.  I  should  say  that  not  less  than  80  per  cent  of 
those  caught  each  year  were  of  that  sex.  (James  Kiernan.) 

WTe  caught  about  400  or  500  seals  before  we  got  to  Bering  Sea.  I 
don't  know  the  precise  number.  They  were  bulls  and  females  mixed 
in,  but  the  general  run  of  them  were  females.  (William  Isaac.) 

Q.  Of  what  sex  are  the  seals  taken  by  you  or  usually  killed  by  hunt- 
ing vessels  in  the  North  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea? — A.  Principally  females. 

Q.  What  would  be  your  judgment  as  to  the  percentage!  Out  of  100 
that  you  kill,  how  many  of  them  would  be  females! — A.  Say  I  would 
bring  2,000  seals  in  here,  I  may  have  probably  about  100  males;  that 
is  a  large  average.  (Alexander  McLean.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  them  are  cows  !  Suppose  you  catch  100  seals, 
how  many  males  would  you  have  among  them! — A.  About  10.  The 
seals  killed  by  me  were  about  half  males  and  half  females;  have  killed 
but  one  old  bull  in  my  life.  I  have  killed  quite  a  number  of  yearling 
seals,  but  never  examined  them  as  to  sex.  (Frederick.  Mason.) 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea! — A.  Mostly  females. 

(^.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows! — A.  I 
should  judge  about  90  per  cent.  (Frank  Moreau.) 

I  can  not  give  the  exact  estimate  of  the  sex,  but  I  know  that  a  large 
portion  of  them  are  females.  (Niles  Nelson.) 

In  going  up  the  coast  to  Uuimak  Pass  we  caught  about  400  seals, 
mostly  females  with  young,  and  put  their  skins  on  board  the  Danube, 
an  English  steamboat,  at  Alatack  Bay,  and  after  we  got  into  Bering 
Sea  we  caught  220.  We  had  200  at  the  time  the  lieutenant  ordered  us 
out  of  the  sea,  the  remainder  we  caught  after.  (John  Olsen.) 

We  began  sealing  off  Cape  Flattery  and  captured  about  300  seals 
along  the  coast,  most  all  of  which  were  females  and  yearlings.  We  did 
not  capture  over  50  males  all  told  on  this  voyage.  About  90  per  cent 


270  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

of  all  the  seals  we  captured  in  the  water  were  female  seals.  We  caught 
350  seals  along  the  coast,  all  of  which  were  females  excepting  UO. 
(Charles  Peterson.) 

The  majority  of  seal  killed  by  me  have  been  cows;  have  killed  a  few 
small  males.  (Showoosch.) 

From  what  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  the  majority  of  seals  taken 
around  Kodiak  are  females.  (John  C.  Tolman.) 

In  my  conversation  with  men  engaged  in  seal  hunting  in  the  open 
water  of  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  I  have  not  been  able  to  get 
sufficient  information  to  form  a  reliable  estimate  of  the  average  number 
saved  out  of  the  total  number  shot  nor  oi'  the  percentage  of  females 
killed.  As  a  rule,  the  hunters  are  extremely  reticent  about  giving 
information  on  the  subject  to  officers  of  the  Government,  but  from  the 
well-known  fact  that  the  female  seal  is  much  more  easily  approached 
than  the  male,  and  sleeps  more  frequently  on  the  water,  and  is  less 
active  when  carrying  her  young,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  female  is  the 
one  that  is  being  killed  by  the  hunter.  (Francis  Tuttle.) 

I  believe  the  number  they  secure  is  small  as  compared  with  the  num- 
ber they  destroy.  Were  it  males  only  that  they  killed  the  damage 
would  be  temporary,  but  it  is  mostly  females  that  they  kill  in  the  open 
waters.  (Daniel  Webster.) 

I  never  paid  any  particular  attention  as  to  the  exact  number  of  or 
proportion  of  each  sex  killed  in  Bering  Sea,  but  I  do  know  that  the 
larger  portion  of  them  were  females,  and  were  mothers  giving  milk. 
(Michael  White.) 

DECREASE   OF  SEALS. 

Opinions  of  white  sealers. 

I  have  noticed  a  perceptible  and  gradual  decrease  in  seal  life  for  the 
past  few  years,  and  attribute  it  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  engaged 
in  hunting  them  at  sea.  (Andrew  Anderson.) 

In  the  sea,  seals  are  much  more  timid  and  make  off  as  fast  as  possible 
at  the  approach  of  a  vessel,  while  formerly  they  were  usually  quite 
curious  and  would  sport  and  play  about  the  vessel  when  come  up  with. 
I  believe  this  decrease  and  timidity  is  due  to  the  indiscriminate  slaughter 
of  the  seals  by  pelagic  sealers.  (G.  F.  Anderson.) 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  decrease? — A.  I  attribute  the  decrease 
to  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the  seals.  (George  Ball.) 

I  believe  that  the  decrease  in  fur-seal  life,  which  has  been  constant  of 
late  years,  is  due  principally  to  the  number  of  vessels  engaged  in  hunt- 
ing them  at  sea.  (J.  A.  Bradley.) 

Seven  or  eight  years  ago,  when  seals  were  hunted  almost  wholly  by 
Indians  with  spears,  a  vessel  hunting  in  the  vicinity  of  Gape  Flattery 
was  sure  of  getting  several  hundred  skins  in  about  three  months,  from 
March  to  the  end  of  May,  but  at  the  present  time  a  vessel  is  doing  well 
if  she  gets  a  much  smaller  number,  because  the  skins  bring  much  higher 
prices.  The  records  of  "catches"  in  the  last  three  or  four  years  will 
confirm  any  person  who  examines  them  in  the  belief  that  the  seals  are 
decreasing  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  American  side.  I  have  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  it  is  the  same  on  the  Eussian  side.  At  present  they  are 
hunted  vigorously  and  with  better  methods  than  formerly.  The  hunters 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  271 

had  more  experience   and  understand   their  habits  better,  but 
rithstanding  this,  the  catches  are  decreasing  oft'  the  coast.    (William 
mnan.) 

)als  were  not  as  numerous  in  1887  as  they  were  in  1877,  and  it  is  my 
belief  that  the  decrease  in  numbers  is  due  to  the  hunting  and  killing  of 
female  seals  in  the  water.  (James  L.  Carthcut.) 

Have  noticed  that  seals  are  becoming  very  scarce  on  the  coast  the 
last  few  years.  The  cause  of  the  scarcity  of  the  seals,  I  think,  is  too 
many  schooners  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea  and  the 
indiscriminate  killing  of  females  with  pup  in  the  water.  (Peter  Church.) 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals  as  compared 
to  the  previous  years? — A.  I  think  there  has.  (Daniel  Claussen.) 

Q.  If  there  is  a  decrease,  to  what  do  you  attribute  it? — A.  To  the 
killing  and  hunting  of  them  by  seal  hunters.  I  think  the  indiscriminate 
killing  of  seals  in  Bering  Sea  is  the  cause  of  their  scarcity  along  the 
coast.  (John  C.  Clement.) 

There  were  not  nearly  as  many  seals  to  be  found  in  1889  as  there 
were  in  1888.  I  think  the  decrease  is  caused  by  the  great  destruction  of 
females  killed  in  the  sea  by  the  hunters.  (Peter  Collins.) 

I  attribute  this  decrease  [of  the  seals]  to  the  terrible  slaughter  now 
going  on  in  the  sea.  (Leander  Cox.) 

Tiiere  can  be  but  one  cause  for  the  scarcity  of  seals,  and  that  is  the 
indiscriminate  killing  of  them  in  the  water,  and  unless  that  is  stopped 
the  seals  must  soon  be  exterminated.  The  sea  otter,  which  were  plenty 
011  this  coast  at  one  time,  are  now  scarcely  seen  at  all,  and  the  indis- 
criminate slaughter  of  them  in  the  water  has  almost  entirely  extermi- 
nated the  animal.  Some  few  remain  in  the  far  north,  but  they  are  very 
hard  to  secure.  (William  Duncan.) 

Until  hunting  and  killing  were  commenced  by  hunters  in  the  open 
sea,  I  observed  no  appreciable  decrease  in  the  number  arriving,  which 
was  about  1884.  In  my  opinion  the  chasing  of  the  seals  and  the  shoot- 
ing of  them  has  a  tendency  to  frighten  them  and  disturb  them,  and 
prevents  their  increasing  as  they  would  if  they  were  left  undisturbed 
in  the  waters.  (M.  C.  Erskine.) 

The  large  decrease  of  seals  in  the  waters  of  the  ocean  and  sea  must 
unquestionably  be  caused  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  now  going  on  by 
poaching  schooners,  and  if  not  discontinued  it  will  most  certainly  be  a 
matter  of  a  very  few  years  before  the  seals  will  be  exterminated.  (M. 
C.  Erskine.) 

The  seals  have  most  decidedly  decreased  in  number,  caused  by  the 
continual  hunting  and  killing  in  the  open  sea.  (F.  F.  Feeny.) 

I  give  them  four  years  more,  and  if  they  keep  on  hunting  them  as 
they  do  now  there  will  be  no  more  seals  left  worth  going  after.  I 
attribute  the  decrease  in  numbers  to  their  being  hunted  so  much.  My 
experience  is  that  the  seal  herds  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea 
have  been  greatly  depleted  within  the  last  few  years  by  the  constant 
pursuit  and  killing  of  them  in  the  water  by  hunters.  (George  Fogel.) 

In  my  opinion,  seals  and  all  other  fur-bearing  animals  are  decreasing^ 
and  the  cause  is  pelagic  hunting.  (William  Foster.) 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals  as  compared 


272  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

with  previous  years? — A.  I  have  not  been  on  tbe  islands  in  the  last  few 
years,  but  I  should  imagine  there  has  been  a  great  decrease. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  decrease? — A.  To  the  number  of 
vessels  that  are  up  there  engaged  in  killing  seals,  nearly  all  of  which 
are  females.  Last  year  there  were  72  vessels  fitted  out  from  Victoria 
alone,  to  say  nothing  of  vessels  that  are  fitted  out  at  other  places. 
(Luther  T.  Franklin.) 

The  seals  are  not  so  numerous  off  Cape  Flattery  as  they  used  to  be 
some  years  ago,  and  it  is  my  opinion  it  is  owing  to  the  constant  hunting 
by  so  many  schooners.  (Thomas  Fra/er.) 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals  as  compared 
with  previous  years? — A.  There  is  a  decrease  of  about  20  or  30  per 
cent. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  decrease  ? — A.  1  attribute  it  to  their 
being  overhunted.  (Edward  W.  Funcke.) 

I  am  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  fur-seal  life  has  considerably 
decreased  of  late  years,  and  believe  it  is  due  principally  to  pelagic 
sealing.  (A.  J.  Gould.) 

While  at  anchor  off  St.  Paul  Island,  the  pups  playing  about  the  vessel 
were  very  few,  and  while  making  a  passage  between  Unalaska  and 
Pribilof  Islands,  during  the  breeding  season,  did  not  see  a  dozen  in  the 
open  sea  during  the  whole  trip,  where  formerly  I  met  hundreds.  In 
going  from  Unalaska  to  Atka  and  returning,  during  the  last  of  May 
and  the  first  part  of  June  of  this  year  (1892),  I  did  not  see  a  single  fur 
seal  in  the  water.  I  attribute  this  great  decrease  to  the  indiscriminate 
slaughter  of  the  species  by  pelagic  sealers  and  their  wasteful  methods 
of  securing  skins.  (Charles  J.  Hague.) 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  this  decrease? — A.  Too  many  in  the 
business,  I  suppose;  too  many  after  them. 

Q.  Would  you  attribute  it  to  the  killing  of  the  females,  and  thereby 
there  are  not  nearly  as  many  born? — A.  Certainly;  it  has  got  all  to  do 
with  it. 

Q.  'Then  really  you  attribute  the  decrease  to  the  killing  of  the  fe- 
males'?— A.  Yes,  sir.  (H.  Harmseu.) 

I  am  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  the  decrease  in  numbers  of  seals 
in  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  is  owing  to  pelagic  hunting,  and 
that  unless  discontinued  they  will  soon  become  so  nearly  extinct  as  to 
be  worthless  for  commercial  purposes.  (J.  M.  Hays.) 

I  think  the  seals  are  not  near  as  plenty  as  a  few  years  ago,  and  they 
are  much  more  shy  and  harder  to  catch  now  than  they  were  when  I 
first  went  out  sealing.  I  think  this  is  caused  by  hunting  them  so  much 
with  guns.  (James  Hay  ward.) 

Q.  If  there  is  a  decrease,  to  what  do  you  attribute  it? — A.  To  the 
amount  of  seal  hunters  and  hunting  that  is  actually  going  on.  (Andrew 
J.  Hoffman.) 

Seals  have  decreased  very  fast  the  last  three  years.  The  decrease  is 
caused,  I  think,  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  seals  in  the  water. 
(E.  Hofstad.) 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  cause? — A.  Killing  off  the  females. 
Whale  killers  and  sharks  kill  a  good  many.  (Gustave  Isaacson.) 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  cause  of  this  decrease? — A.  The 
increase  of  the  fleet  and  killing  off  all  the  females.  (Frank  Johnson.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  273 

My  knowledge,  being  from  long  experience,  is  that  the  seals  are 
becoming  gradually  scarcer  in  the  northern  waters,  particularly  so  in 
later  years.  The  cause  of  this  decrease  1  believe  to  be  the  indiscrimi- 
nate slaughter  of  the  mother  seals.  They  are  hunted  too  much,  and 
hence  mother  seals  are  becoming  scarcer,  which,  if  not  checked,  will 
lead  to  their  early  extermination.  (James  Kiernan.) 

He  also  told  me,  from  his  own  knowledge,  that  the  Uchuckelset  Indi- 
ans had  a  few  years  ago  caught  off  the  coast  1,000  seals  in  a  season, 
and  that  now  they  could  catch  hardly  any;  that  the  white  men's  guns 
were  not  only  destroying  the  seals,  but  driving  them  farther  from  the 
coast.  (Francis  K.  King-Hall.) 

In  my  opinion,  fur-seal  life  has  not  only  enormously  decreased  in 
numbers  since  1880.  but  it  lias  become  greatly  scattered  and  grown 
wilder  and  more  timid,  forsaking  many  places  where  they  were  formerly 
to  be  found  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  engaged  in  feeding.  This  I 
attribute  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  engaged  in  killing  fur  seals 
indiscriminately  at  sea.  (James  E.  Lennan.) 

If  they  keep  on  hunting  them  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  in 
the  same  way  they  have  done  in  the  last  few  years,  they  will  exterminate 
them  in  the  same  way,  because  most  all  the  seals  killed  are  females. 
The  young  ones  will  all  die,  and  every  female  seal  you  shoot  makes  the 
killing  of  two,  because  after  the  seal  has  given  birth  to  her  young  the 
pup  will  starve  to  death  on  the  land,  or  when  you  shoot  them  in  the 
water  they  may  have  a  pup  inside.  (Caleb  Lindahl.) 

I  have  observed  a  very  great  decrease  in  fur-seal  life  since  1885,  and 
believe  it  is  almost  entirely  due  to  the  large  numbers  of  vessels  engaged 
in  pelagic  sealing.  (E.  W.  Littlejohn.) 

The  seals  are  much  less  plentiful  the  last  year  I  sealed  than  the  first. 
I  attribute  this  decrease  to  the  hunting  of  them  in  the  water  and  the 
increased  number  of  boats  and  men  engaged  in  the  business  in  the  last 
few  years.  (William  H.  Long.) 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals  as  compared 
to  previous  years?— A.  There  has  been  a  decrease. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  decrease? — A.  To  the  hunting  of 
the  seals  in  Bering  Sea.  (Charles  Lutjens.) 

There  can  be  but  one  reason  for  the  decrease,  and  that  is  they  are 
hunted  too  much  in  the  open  waters.  (J.  D.  McDonald.) 

There  were  not  as  many  seals  in  1890  as  there  were  in  1889.  I  think 
there  are  so  many  boats  and  hunters  out  after  them  that  they  are  being 
killed  off.  They  are  hunted  too  much.  (William  Mclsaac.) 

There  were  not  as  many  seals  as  formerly.  Have  noticed  the  decrease 
in  the  last  three  years ;  caused,  I  think,  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  of 
female  seal.  (James  McKeen.) 

I  was  also  cod  fishing  in  1884.  There  were  a  great  many  more  seals 
in  the  water  then  than  there  were  in  1889.  In  1884,  when  we  were  cod 
fishing,  we  met  the  steam  whaler  Thrasher,  and  I  heard  the  captain 
remark  that  it  was  a  damned  shame  the  way  they  were  killing  the  female 
seals  in  Bering  Sea.  (William  McLaughlin.) 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  this  decrease? — A.  I  think  this  is  on 
account  of  killing  those  female  seals  when  they  have  pups,  and  the 
business  is  getting  so  that  so  many  vessels  are  going  into  it,  and  they 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 18 


274  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILO.F    ISLANDS. 

are  killing  those  pups  off.     A  seal  has  not  got  a  chance  to  go  to  work 
and  increase. 

Q.  The  mother  seals? — A.  Yes,  sir.     (Alexander  McLean.) 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  animals  in  the 
last  few  years? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  cause? — A.  Killing  off  the  females. 
(Daniel  McLean.) 

I  have  given  up  the  sealing  business  because  the  slaughtering  of  the 
female  seals  is  making  them  so  scarce  that  it  does  not  pay.  (James 
Maloy.) 

I  think  seals  are  not  as  plentiful  as  they  used  to  be;  caused.  I  think, 
by  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  females  with  pup.  (G.  B.  Miner.) 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  that  decrease? — A.  From  the  killing  of 
seals,  both  by  hunters  and  others.  (Frank  Morreau.) 

Deponent  further  says  that  he  thinks  that  the  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  seals  found  in  the  rookeries  and  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
dead  pups  are  caused  directly  by  the  open  sealing  in  the  sea,  commonly 
called  poaching.  (T.  F.  Morgan.) 

I  am  not  able  to  say  whether  the  seal  herd  is  decreasing,  but  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  where  they  are  hunted  and  harassed  at  all 
times  by  so  many  hunters  they  are  sure  to  be  driven  from  their  usual 
haunts,  if  not  totally  destroyed.  (Nelson  T.  Oliver.) 

Seals  were  not  as  plentiful  in  1886  as  they  were  in  1885.  I  think  the 
principal  cause  of  that  decrease  is  on  account  of  killing  the  females  in 
the  water,  and  also  through  their  getting  shy  by  being  chased  by  the 
boats.  (Niles  Nelson.) 

Since  the  use  of  rifles  and  shotguns  has  become  common  seals  are 
much  less  in  numbers  and  are  more  shy  and  timid.  (William  Parker.) 

Seals  are  not  near  as  plentiful  as  when  I  went  out  in  1888,  and  I 
believe  the  decrease  is  due  to  their  being  hunted  so  much  with  shot- 
guns and  rifles.  (Edwin  P.  Porter.) 

I  know  that  the  seals  are  rapidly  decreasing,  and  I  believe  it  is  caused 
by  killing  females  in  the  water.  (Adolphus  Sayers.) 

I  took  very  great  interest  in  the  seals,  because  I  used  to  hunt  them 
myself,  and  I  noticed  a  great  decrease  in  the  number  of  seals  from  what 
there  was  formerly,  when  I  was  on  sealing  voyages.  It  was,  in  fact,  so 
marked  that  I  called  the  captain's  attention  to  it,  saying  that  we  had 
seen  very  few  seals.  They  have  been  getting  scarcer  every  year  since 
I  have  been  going  to  Bering  Sea,  and  if  something  is  not  done  right 
away  to  protect  them  there  will  be  no  more  seals  in  these  waters.  I 
know  as  a  fact  that  they  are  killing  them  indiscriminately,  and  all  the 
hunters  care  about  it  is  to  get  a  skin.  I  know  something  about  it,  as  I 
have  been  sailing  from  this  coast  up  along  those  waters  for  nineteen 
years,  and,  as  I  said  before,  I  paid  particular  attention  to  them,  and  I 
firmly  believe  if  they  allow  the  killing  in  the  sea  to  go  on  as  they  are 
now  doing  it  will  only  be  a  question  of  a  few  years  before  there  will  not 
be  enough  to  pay  anyone  to  hunt  them.  (James  Sloan.) 

I  think  the  seals  are  decreasing  in  number  all  the  time,  because  there 
are  more  vessels  out  hunting  after  them  and  are  killing  off  the  female 
seals.  (Cyrus  Stepherns.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


275 


Q.  If  there   is  a   decrease,  to  what  do   you   attribute  it? — A.    On 
account  of  so  much  extermination  and  hunting  by  the  seal  hunters. 
Gustave  Sundvall.) 


(G 

,,' 


I  have  heard  that  seal  have  been  decreasing  the  last  few  years;  caused, 
'Link,  by  pelagic  scaling.     (W.  Thomas.) 

The  decrease,  I  think,  is  caused  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  of 
female  seals.  (Rudolph  Walson.) 

From  what  I  know  seals  have  been  decreasing  very  fast  in  recent 
years.  Think  the  decrease  is  caused  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  in 
the  Xorth  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.  (P.  S.  Weit  ten  heller.) 

My  experience  is  that  the  seals  have  been  decreasing  in  numbers  for 
the  last  six  or  seven  years,  and  within  the  past  two  or  three  years  very 
rapidly,  owing  to  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  them  by  pelagic  hunters 
and  vessels  engaged  in  that  business  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific 
and  Bering  Sea.  (Michael  White.) 

INCREASE   OF   SEALING  FLEET. 

Pelagic  sealing  as  an  industry  is  of  recent  origin  and  may  be  said  to 
date  from  1879.  In  1880,  according  to  the  official  report  of  the  Cana- 
dian minister  of  marine  and  fisheries,  7  vessels  and  213  men  were 
engaged  in  pelagic  sealing  in  the  North  Pacific,  securing  13,600  skins, 
valued  at  8103,200.  The  same  authority  states  that  in  1886  20  vessels 
and  459  men  secured  38,907  skins,  valued  at  $389,070.  In  1891  the 
number  of  United  States  and  Canadian  vessels  had  increased  to  over 
100;  upward  of  2,000  men  were  engaged,  and  more  than  62,000  skins 
were  secured.  (Report  of  American  commissioners.) 

The  number  of  seal  skins  actually  recorded  as  sold  as  a  result  of 
pelagic  sealing  is  shown  in  the  following  table: 


Year.          Number. 

Year. 

Number. 

Year. 

Number. 

Year. 

Number. 

1872  1.029 

1877  . 

5,700 
9,593 
12,7>00 
13,  600 
13,541 

1882 

17,  700 
9,195 
a  14,  000 
13,  000 
38,  907 

1887 

83,  800 
37.  789 
40,  998 
48,  519 
62,500 

1873  

1878  

1883 

1888 

1874  4,  949 
1875                             1  646 

1879    

1884  

1889 

1880 

1885 

1890 

1870                              2  042       1881 

1886 

1891 

a  Number  estimated  from  value  given. 

One  reason  for  deponent's  opinion  that  the  total  number  of  seals  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  has  diminished  very  rapidly  is  the  fact — 
which  deponent  knows  from  the  fact  that  he  buys  so  large  a  portion  of 
the  poachers7  catch — that  there  are  now  engaged  in  what  is  called 
"poaching"  about  80  vessels,  and  that  about  five  years  ago  not  more 
than  10  vessels  were  engaged  in  poaching;  that  the  total  number  of 
skins  brought  in  by  the  whole  80  vessels  is  now  not  very  much  greater 
than  the  number  brought  in  five  years  by  10  vessels.  The  poaching 
vessels  a  few  years  ago  have  been  known  to  get  as  many  as  3,000  or 
4,000  skins,  and  deponent  has  bought  4,000  skins  from  one  vessel, 
whereas  no  poaching  vessel  now  gets  more  than  a  few  hundred  with 
the  same  size  crew.  One  vessel  last  year  sailing  from  Victoria  made 
a  catch  of  1,900  skins,  but  this  is  now  an  altogether  exceptional  catch, 
and  this  vessel  had  a  crew  twice  as  large  as  poaching  vessels  for- 
merly carried,  and  was  equipped  with  from  12  to  15  boats  instead  of  5 


276  SEAL   LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

or  6.  One  or  two  other  poaching  vessels  also  made  large  catches — that 
is,  over  1,200  skins — but  the  average  catch  of  the  poaching  vessels  is 
not  more  than  a  lew  hundred  each.  This  is  true,  although  the  poach- 
ing vessels  are  now  equipped  with  much  more  experienced  shooters, 
with  better  rifles,  and  with  better  boats  than  any  of  the  vessels  had 
five  years  ago.  Many  of  the  poaching  vessels  now  have  boats  pointed 
at  both  ends,  so  that  they  can  go  backward  and  forward  with  equal 
ease;  the  old  poacher  only  had  ordinary  ships'  boats.  Deponent 
knows  this  to  be  true  because  he  has  seen  the  boats  and  talked  with 
the  captains  of  the  schooners  about  them.  (Herman  Liebes.) 

I  never  saw  many  sealing  schooners  before  1884,  but  they  have  been 
coming  more  and  more  every  year  since,  and  I  notice  that  as  the  schoon- 
ers multiply  in  the  sea  the  seals  decrease  on  the  rookeries.  (Aggei 
Kushen.) 

From  1885  to  the  present  time  the  fleet  of  predatory  vessels  has  con- 
stantly increased  in  proportion  as  the  seal  herd  has  decreased  on  the 
rookeries.  *  *  *  A  very  noticeable  decrease  in  the  herd  commenced, 
as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  in  188(>,  and  was  coincident  in  time  and 
proportionate  in  extent  with  the  number  of  seals  destroyed  in  the  water. 
The  business  of  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  first  assumed  consider- 
able proportions  in  1884,  and  in  that  year  dead  pup  seals  first  became 
numerous  enough  upon  the  rookeries  to  excite  remark  upon  the  islands. 
As  the  sealing  fleet  increased  the  starved  animals  became  more  numer- 
ous. In  1887  fourteen  vessels  were  seized  for  illegal  sealing,  and  the 
effect  was  seen  in  the  following  year,  when  a  much  less  number  engaged 
in  the  business  and  the  Bering  Sea  catch  amounted,  as  I  am  informed, 
to  about  34,000  skins  against  about  19,000  or  20,000  in  1888.  The  failure 
of  the  United  States  Government  to  vigorously  pursue  in  1888  and  the 
following  years  the  repressive  policy  so  auspiciously  begun  in  1887,  led 
to  a  large  increase  of  the  sealing  fleet  and  corresponding  destruction  of 
the  herd,  but  the  prohibition  of  pelagic  sealing  nevertheless  continued, 
and  the  usual  proclamation  was  published  by  the  Government  warning 
all  parties  not  to  kill  seals  in  Bering  Sea  or  waters  adjacent  to  the 
Alaskan  coast.  (H.  H.  Mclntyre.) 

Up  to  1883  and  1884  it  was  only  an  occasional  venturesome  vessel 
that  came  around  and  secured  a  few  hundred  skins  and  thought  itself 
lucky  and  cleared  out,  but  since  that  time  not  even  the  smallest  craft 
is  satisfied  unless  it  secures  its  thousands  of  pelts  regardless  of  sex. 
(W.  S.  Hereford.) 

While  in  Bering  Sea  during  the  summer  of  1869  I  never  saw  a  vessel 
sealing  about  the  islands  or  anywhere  in  the  sea,  nor  did  I  hear  any 
report  of  the  presence  of  such  sealing  vessels  in  those  waters.  (J.  A. 
Henriques.) 

I  do  not  know  of  any  sealing  schooner  that  went  to  Bering  Sea  until 
Captain  McLean  went  there  about  nine  years  ago  in  the  Favorite. 
(William  Parker.) 

Q.  What  effect,  in  your  opinion,  does  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
poaching  vessels  in  Bering  Sea  have  upon  seal  life? — A.  Since  the 
number  of  sealing  vessels  has  increased  the  number  of  seals  coming  to 
the  islands  has  correspondingly  decreased.  *  *  *  In  1884  the  seal- 
ing schooners  became  numerous.  I  believe  there  were  about  30  in  the 
sea  that  year,  and  they  have  increased  very  rapidly  every  year  since, 
until  now  there  are  said  to  be  about  120.  (J.  C.  Eedpath.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  277 

I  tirst  went  out  in  1885,  in  tbe  schooner  City  of  Man  I>/6Y/o,  chartered 
by  myself  and  others,  and  iny  catch  for  that  year  was  between  2.:>uo 
and  U,400  seals.  Of  Unit  number  about  1,900  were  caught  in  Bering 
Sea.  There  were  but  very  few  vessels  sealing  at  that  time.  (Michael 
White.) 

DECREASE   OF   SEALS — PELAGIC   SEALING  THE   SOLE   CAUSE. 

Opinions  of  Indian  hunters. 

Fur  seals  were  formerly  much  more  plentiful,  however,  but  of  late 
years  are  becoming  constantly  scarcer.  This  is,  we  think,  owing  to  the 
number  of  vessels  engaged  in  hunting  them  at  sea.  (John  Alexandroff.) 

Fur  seals  were  formerly  observed  in  this  neighborhood  in  great  num- 
bers, but  of  late  years  they  have  been  constantly  diminishing,  owing 
to  the  large  number  of  sealing  vessels  engaged  in  hunting  and  killing 
them.  (Nicoli  Apokchee.) 

I  have  noticed  that  seal  have  decreased  very  rapidly  in  the  last  three 
years,  owing  to  too  many  schooners  engaged  in  sealing  along  the 
coast  of  Alaska  and  Bering  Sea.  (Adam  Ayonkee.) 

The  seal  are  not  near  as  plentiful  as  they  used  to  be.  Tbe  cause  of 
the  decrease  is,  I  think,  too  many  schooners  hunting  them  oft'  Prince 
of  Wales  Island  and  around  Dixons  Entrance.  (Maurice  Bates.) 

Seal  are  not  as  plentiful  on  the  coast  as  they  used  to  be.  They  have 
been  decreasing  very  fast  the  last  few  years.  I  think  this  is  caused  by 
the  indiscriminate  killing  in  the  water.  (Wilton  0.  Bennett.) 

Seal  are  getting  very  scarce.  I  think  the  cause  of  the  scarcity  is  too 
many  people  hunting  seal.  (Edward  Benson.) 

Seals  were  very  plenty  in  the  straits  and  around  the  cape  until  about 
six  years  ago,  when  the  white  hunters  came  in  schooners  and  with  shot- 
guns and  commenced  to  kill  them  all  off,  and  now  there  is  none  in  the 
straits  and  we  can  not  get  but  one  or  two  where  we  used  to  get  eight  or 
ten.  They  are  very  shy  and  wild,  and  are  decreasing  very  rapidly. 
(Bowa-chup.) 

White  hunters  came  here  about  five  or  six  years  ago  and  commenced 
shooting  the  seals  with  guns,  since  which  time  they  have  been  rapidly 
decreasing  and  are  becoming  very  wild.  When  we  hunt  seals  with 
spears  we  creep  upon  them  while  asleep  on  the  water  and  spear  them. 
A  few  years  ago  my  people  would  catch  from  8,000  to  10,000  each  year; 
now  we  get  only  about  1,000  or  less.  *  *  *  Seals  used  to  be  very 
numerous  along  the  coast  about  Cape  Flattery,  and  no  decrease  was 
ever  noticed  in  their  numbers  until  soon  after  the  white  hunters  came 
around  here — about  seven  years  ago — and  commenced  shooting  them. 
Since  that  time  they  have  decreased  fast  and  have  become  very  shy. 
(Peter  Brown.) 

They  were  formerly  much  more  plentiful  than  now,  which  is  owing, 
we  believe,  to  the  number  of  vessels  engaged  in  killing  them  at  sea. 
(Ivan  Canetak.) 

Years  ago  seals  were  very  plentiful  from  5  to  10  miles  from  the  shore. 
I  could  see  them  all  around  in  bunches  of  from  10  to  20  each,  but  since 
the  white  man  has  commenced  to  kill  them  with  the  rifle  and  shotgun 
(in  the  last  five  or  six  years)  they  have  decreased  very  rapidly.  (Charlie.) 


278  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Fur  seals  have  decreased  very  rapidly  during  the  last  five  years,  and 
we  believe  it  is  due  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  engaged  in  bunting 
them  at  sea.  (Vassili  Ohichinoff.) 

Have  noticed  the  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast  the  last  four  years; 
too  many  schooners  are  hunting  them  in  the  open  waters  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.  (Chin-koo-tin.) 

The  last  five  years  fur  seal  has  been  growing  very  scarce,  and  it  is 
hard  to  get  any  now.  There  are  too  many  white  men  with  schooners 
hunting  them  off  Dixons  Entrance,  and  unless  it  is  stopped  the  seal 
will  be  all  gone.  (William  Clark.) 

Seals  are  now  very  scarce  and  wild  along  the  coast.  I  believe  the 
cause  of  this  is  that  white  hunters  have  been  hunting  them  so  much 
with  guns.  (James  Claplanhoo.) 

Seals  used  to  be  very  plentiful,  and  I  never  noticed  any  decrease  in 
their  number  until  white  hunters  commenced  coming  here  and  killing 
them  with  guns,  about  six  or  seven  years  ago;  since  that  they  have 
decreased  very  rapidly  and  have  got  very  shy.  Our  tribe  used  to 
have  no  difficulty  in  catching  8,000  to  10,000  seals  and  now  we  can 
not  get  a  thousand.  (Circus  Jim.) 

I  have  been  out  sealing  on  the  coast  this  spring  in  a  schooner  that 
carried  10  canoes,  with  two  hunters  to  each  canoe.  We  were  out  three 
days  and  caught  5  seals.  If  we  had  been  out  that  long  six  or  eight 
years  ago  with  the  same  crew  we  would  have  taken  between  (JO  and  100 
seals.  Seals  are  wild  and  shy  now,  and  have  become  very  scarce.  I 
think  the  reason  for  this  is  that  they  have  been  hunted  so  much  by 
white  hunters  who  use  firearms.  (Jeff.  Davis.) 

Some  years  ago  the  fur  seal  were  plenty  off  the  islands,  but  since  the 
schooners  have  hunted  them  they  are  nearly  all  gone,  and  it  is  hard  for 
the  Indians  of  this  village  to  get  any.  (Eshon .) 

Seals  are  not  so  plentiful  as  they  were  a  few  years  ago.  They  began 
to  decrease  about  five  or  six  years  ago.  A  good  many  years  ago  1  used 
to  capture  seals  in  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca,  but  of  late  3Tears, 
since  so  many  schooners  and  white  men  have  come  around  here  shoot- 
ing with  guns,  only  a  few  come  in  here  and  we  do  not  hunt  in  the 
Straits  any  more.  I  used  to  catch  40  or  50  seals  in  one  day,  and  now 
if  I  get  6  or  7  I  would  have  great  luck.  I  have  to  go  a  long  distance 
to  get  seals  now.  Seals  are  wild  and  afraid  of  an  Indian.  They  have 
become  so  since  the  white  men  and  the  trader  began  to  shoot  them  with 
shotguns  and  rifles.  In  a  short  time  there  will  be  no  seals  left  for  the 
Indian  to  kill  with  a  spear.  (Ellabush.) 

Fur  seals  were  formerly  much  more  numerous  than  of  late  years,  and 
are  each  year  becoming  constantly  scarcer.  I  believe  this  decrease  is 
due  to  the  number  of  vessels  which  are  engaged  in  hunting  them  at 
sea.  (Vassili  Feodor.) 

When  I  was  a  young  man  there  were  lots  of  seals  around  Queen 
Charlotte  Islands,  but  now  they  have  become  scarce.  The  last  few 
times  I  was  out  after  them  I  did  not  see  a  seal.  They  have  been  grow- 
ing scarcer  every  year  since  the  white  man  began  hunting  them  in 
schooners.  (Frank.) 

Fur  seal  are  not  as  plenty  as  they  used  to  be,  and  it  is  hard  for  the 
Indians  to  catch  any.  I  think  there  are  too  many  white  men  in 
schooners  hunting  seals  around  Dixons  Entrance.  (Chief  Frank.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  279 


E 
ie  white  men  have  been  hunting  the  seal  with  schooners  they 
)ine  very  scarce,  and  it  is  hard  for  the  Indians  to  get  any  in 
their  canoes.     (Luke  Frank.) 

Seal  have  decreased  on  the  coast  very  fast  the  last  four  years.  The 
reason  of  the  decrease  is  too  much  hunting  and  indiscriminate  killing. 
(Chad  George.) 

The  seal  are  becoming  very  scarce,  caused,  I  think,  by  the  white  men 
hunting  them  too  much.  (Charles  Gibson.) 

Seal  are  becoming  very  scarce  this  last  three  or  four  years,  and  Indian 
hunters  can  hardly  kill  them  now.  Too  many  schooners  are  hunting 
seal,  and  Indian  hunters  have  to  go  a  long  way  in  their  canoes  in  order 
to  get  any,  and  they  seldom  kill  one.  (Gonastut.) 

Have  noticed  that  seals  are  decreasing  the  last  four  years,  caused,  I 
think,  by  too  many  white  men  hunting  seal  in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.  (James  Gondowen.) 

Fur  seals  have  decreased  in  numbers  of  late  years,  and  we  believe  it 
is  due  principally  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  hunting  them  at  sea. 
(Nicoli  Gregoroif.) 

The  seal  are  not  nearly  as  plentiful  as  they  once  were,  and  I  think 
they  are  hunted  too  much  by  schooners.  (Henry  Haldane.) 

Seals  are  not  as  plentiful  now  as  they  were  before  white  men  com- 
menced hunting  them  with  guns  around  here  some  six  or  seven  years 
ago.  They  are  more  shy  now  and  it  is  much  more  difficult  for  the  hunt- 
ers to  creep  up  and  spear  them  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago.  (Alfred 
Irving.) 

Years  ago  we  could  see  seals  all  over  the  water.  They  are  not  so 
plentiful  now.  They  have  been  growing  less  and  less  ever  since  the 
white  man  came  in  and  began  to  hunt  them  with  guns,  about  six  or 
seven  years  ago,  and  so  many  vessels  went  into  the  business.  (Ishka.) 

My  idea  is  that  there  are  too  many  camp  fires  around  on  the  coast  of 
Alaska  that  scare  the  seals  out  to  sea.  The  seal  smell  the  smoke  and 
wont  come  near  the  land  ;  and  there  are  a  large  number  of  people  shoot- 
ing seal,  which  scares  them  away  also.  (Jack  Johnson.) 

There  are  too  many  schooners  hunting  seal  oft  Prince  of  Wales 
Island,  and  it  is  hard  for  Indians  to  get  any  in  canoes.  (Johnnie 
John  ton.) 

Have  noticed  that  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast  the  last  few  years 
along  the  coast,  caused,  I  think,  by  pelagic  sealing.  *  *  *  Think 
the  seals  are  most  all  killed  by  the  pelagic  seal  hunters  in  the  waters  of 
the  North  Pacific  Ocean  so  far  from  the  land  that  the  Indians  have  no 
chance  to  get  any  in  canoes,  as  they  only  go  a  short  distance  from  the 
shore.  (P.  Kahiliday.) 

Do  not  know  why  the  number  of  the  fur  seal  seen  about  these  islands 
are  now  less  than  in  former  years.  (Samuel  Kahooroft'.) 

I  think  the  seal  are  about  as  plentiful  along  this  coast,  but  much  more 
scarce  farther  west.  The  cause  of  this  scarcity  is  too  much  pelagic 
hunting.  (Philip  Kashevaroff.) 

When  I  was  a  young  man  the  seal  were  very  plentiful  around  here, 
but  since  the  schooners  began  hunting  them  they  have  become  very 
scarce.  The  white  hunter  destroyed  the  sea  otter  and  will  soon  destroy 


280  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

the  seal.  I  don't  like  to  see  the  schooners  around  here  hunting  seal, 
for  they  kill  everything  they  see,  and  unless  they  are  stopped  the  seal 
will  soon  be  gone.  The  sea  otter  is  already  gone.  (King  Kashwa.) 

Seals  have  been  growing  scarcer  the  last  five  years,  since  the  white 
rnau  began  hunting  them  with  schooners,  and  if  they  are  not  stopped 
the  seal  will  soon  be  all  gone.  (Jim  Kasooh). 

Seals  have  decreased  very  rapidly  along  this  coast  in  the  last  three 
or  four  years.  The  decrease  is  caused,  1  think,  by  schooners  using 
shotguns  and  rities  and  killing  mostly  female  seals.  (Mike  Kethusduck.) 

The  reason  of  the  scarcity  is,  I  think,  that  there  are  too  many  white 
hunters  sealing,  in  the  open  waters.  (Kinkooga.) 

Seal  are  becoming  very  scarce  on  the  coast.  The  reason  they  are 
becoming  so  scarce  is  that  hunters  shoot  them  with  guns  and  kill  cows 
with  pup.  (O.  Klananeck.) 

Seal  used  to  be  plentiful,  but  now  they  are  nearly  all  gone.  They 
are  too  much  hunted  by  the  white  men  with  schooners.  (James  Klo- 
racket.) 

Seal  have  become  very  scarce  the  last  three  years,  and  what  few  there 
are  are  very  wild  and  hard  to  get  at.  I  think  the  reason  that  seal  have 
become  scarce  is  that  they  are  hunted  too  much,  and  too  many  females 
killed  with  pup.  (Robert  Kooko.) 

Have  noticed  that  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast  the  last  few  years. 
I  think  the  cause  of  the  decrease  is  that  there  are  too  many  schooners 
hunting  seal  in  Bering  Sea  and  along  the  North  Pacific  Coast.  (John 
Kowineet.) 

Seal  are  not  as  plentiful  as  in  former  years;  have  noticed  the  decrease 
in  the  last  three  or  four  years.  Think  the  cause  of  the  decrease  is  the 
great  number  of  schooners  sealing  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Ber- 
ing Sea.  (George  Lacheek.) 

Seals  are  not  nearly  so  plentiful  now  as  they  used  to  be.  About  seven 
years  ago  white  men  commenced  to  hunt  seals  in  this  vicinity  with  guns, 
since  which  time  they  have  been  decreasing  in  numbers,  and  have 
become  wild  and  hard  to  catch.  *  *  *  Seals  are  not  so  plentiful 
and  are  more  shy  than  they  used  to  be,  and  are  more  difficult  to  catch, 
because  they  have  been  hunted  so  much  for  the  last  live  or  six  years 
with  guns.  (James  Lighthouse.) 

White  hunters  in  numbers  commenced  to  hunt  them  around  Gape 
Flattery  with  guns  about  six  years  ago,  and  since  that  time  the  seals 
have  decreased  very  rapidly.  (Thomas  Lowe.) 

Since  the  white  man  with  schooners  has  been  hunting  seal  they  have 
been  growing  scarcer  every  year,  and  unless  they  are  stopped  the  seal 
will  soon  be  all  gone.  The  Indians  now  have  to  go  a  long  way  and 
suffer  great  hardships  in  order  to  get  any.  (Charles  Martin.) 

After  careful  inquiry  among  our  oldest  people  and  weighing  my  own 
experience  and  observations,  I  believe  the  decrease  of  the  Alaskan  fur 
seal  is  due  altogether  to  pelagic  hunting.  (S.  Melovidov.) 

Since  the  schooners  have  commenced  to  hunt  seal  they  are  becoming 
very  scarce,  and  the  Indians  have  to  go  a  long  ways  to  get  the  few  that 
they  do.  (Matthew  Morris.) 

Years  ago  seals  were  much  more  plentiful  than  they  are  now,  and  I 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  281 

could  see  them  all  around  in  bunches  on  the  water,  but  since  the  white 
man  came  here  and  commenced  to  kill  them  with  the  rifle  and  the  shot- 
gun, within  the  last  five  or  six  years,  they  have  rapidly  decreased  in 
number.  (Moses.) 

When  I  was  a  young  man  seals  were  very  plentiful  off  Prince  of 
Wales  Island  and  Dixons  Entrance,  but  since  the  schooners  have 
begun  hunting  seals  they  have  become  very  scarce,  and  Indians  now  are 
obliged  to  go  a  long  ways  to  kill  any,  and  sometimes  they  will  hunt  for 
days  without  getting  a  seal.  (Nash ton.) 

Since  the  white  men  with  schooners  began  to  hunt  seals,  the  last  five 
or  six  years,  seals  have  become  very  scarce,  and  it  is  hard  for  the  Indiana 
to  get  any  now.  They  have  to  go  a  long  way  and  hunt  a  long  time  in 
order  to  get  one  or  two  seals.  (Smith  Natch.) 

The  last  four  or  five  years  seals  have  been  growing  scarcer  every 
year,  owing,  I  think,  to  too  many  white  men  hunting  seals  in  schooner* 
off  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  and  in  Dixons.  (Dan  Nathlan.) 

I  think  the  reason  of  the  seal  becoming  so  scarce  every  year  is  that 
there  are  too  many  white  men  hunting  seal  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean  and  it  should  be  stopped.  (Nechantake.) 

Seals  are  not  near  as  plenty  as  they  used  to  be;  too  many  hunters  are 
catching  them  and  indiscriminately  killing  them.  (James  Neishkaitk.) 

WThen  I  was  a  young  man  seals  were  much  more  plentiful  than  they 
are  now.  The  last  three  years,  since  the  schooners  began  hunting  seals, 
they  have  become  very  scarce,  and  it  is  hard  lor  the  Indians  to  g«  t  any 
now.  This  year  they  have  killed  but  two.  (Nikla  ah.) 

The  Indian  fur-seal  hunters  of  my  people  all  tell  me  that  the  fur  seal 
are  becoming  very  scarce;  too  many  white  men  are  killing  them  all  the 
time,  and  they  kill  cows  with  pup,  as  well  as  other  kinds.  1  am  the 
chief  of  my  people,  and  they  all  tell  me  what  they  know.  (Peter  Olsen.) 

Seal  are  getting  very  scarce  along  the  coast;  cause  of  the  scarcity 
is,  I  think,  too  many  schooners  hunting  them  oft'  Prince  of  Wales  Island. 

(Abel  Ryan.) 

Since  the  schooners  have  hunted  seal  oft'  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island 
the  seals  have  become  scarce,  and  it  is  hard  for  the  Indians  to  get  any 
in  canoes.  In  former  times  they  used  to  get  plenty.  (Jack  Shnoky.) 

The  disappearance  of  the  fur  seal  is  due  to  the  killing  by  pelagic 
seal  hunters,  who  appear  in  large  numbers  off  this  part  of  the  coast; 
and  the  scarcity  of  the  fur  seals  is  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  ves- 
sels engaged  in  seal  hunting.  (Alex.  Shyha.) 

Seal  have  become  very  scarce  the  last  few  years.  Too  many  white 
men  are  engaged  in  killing  seal.  (Martin  Singay.) 

Have  noticed  a  large  decrease  in  seal  in  the  last  three  years,  caused,. 
I  think,  by  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  Ocean. 
(Jack  Sitka.) 

Since  the  white  men  have  been  hunting  with  schooners  they  have 
become  very  scarce,  and  Indians  are  obliged  to  go  a  long  way  and  stop 
away  from  home  a  long  time  in  order  to  get  any,  and  after  being  away 
there  four  or  five  days  they  frequently  return  without  killing  one  seal, 
they  have  become  so  scarce.  (Thomas  Showl.) 

There  are  no  seal  left  now;  they  are  most  all  killed  off.    The  last  ten 


282  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

years  the  seal  have  been  decreasing  very  fast — ever  since  the  white  men 
with  schooners  began  to  hunt  them.     (George  Skultka.) 

Seal  have  been  growing  scarce  along  the  coast  the  last  four  years. 
Think  there  are  too  many  schooners  engaged  in  sealing  in  the  North 
Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.  (M.  Thlkahdaynahkee.) 

Have  noticed  a  large  decrease  the  last  four  years.  I  think  that 
pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  is  the  cause  of  the  seal  becoming  scarce 
along  the  coast.  (Charlie  Tlaksatan.) 

Have  heard  all  the  Indians  of  different  tribes  say  that  seal  are  becom- 
ing very  scarce  in  the  last  three  or  four  years.  They  also  say  that  unless 
the  schooners  are  stopped  from  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North 
Pacific  Ocean  the  seal  will  all  be  gone,  and  none  will  be  left  for  the 
Indians  or  anyone  else.  The  seal  have  become  so  scarce  of  late  years 
that  I  don't  know  much  about  them.  (Twongkwak.) 

During  the  last  five  or  six  years  seals  have  decreased  in  numbers 
very  rapidly.  A  great  many  of  the  white  men  are  poor  hunters  and 
lose  a  great  many  of  the  seals  that  they  shoot.  They  shoot,  and  shoot, 
and  shoot,  and  don't  get  any  seals,  and  that  makes  them  wild,  so  that 
an  Indian  can't  get  near  them  with  a  spear.  (John  Tysum.) 

Have  noticed  the  seal  have  been  decreasing  along  the  coast  the  last 
four  years.  Think  the  cause  of  the  decrease  is  that  there  are  too  many 
schooners  engaged  in  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea.  (James  Unatajim.) 

Last  year  was  a  very  bad  season.  The  Indians  think  scarcity  of  seals 
is  due  to  the  method  of  hunting  them  adopted  by  the  whites,  by  which 
the  seals  are  scared  away.  (Francis  Verbeke.) 

Have  noticed  the  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast,  particularly  the  last 
four  years,  caused  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  seal  in  the  waters  of 
the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.  (Charlie  Wank.) 

So  many  schooners  and  white  men  are  hunting  them  with  guns  all 
along  the  coast  that  they  are  getting  all  killed  off.  (Watkins.) 

Formerly  the  Indians  hunted  them  for  food,  but  nowadays  white  men 
and  Indians  hunt  them  for  their  fur,  and  they  are  rapidly  diminishing 
in  number.  (Weckenunesch.) 

Seals  were  always  plenty  in  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca  and 
along  the  coast  until  the  white  hunter  came  here  and  commenced  shoot- 
ing them  some  six  or  eight  years  ago;  since  that  time  they  have 
decreased  very  rapidly.  (Charley  White.) 

Seals  are  becoming  very  scarce  since  the  white  men  began  hunting 
them  in  schooners.  (Billy  Williams.) 

Seals  have  become  scarce  the  last  three  or  four  years,  and  the  cause 
of  it  is,  I  think,  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  seals  in  the  water.  (Fred 
Wilson.) 

Seals  are  not  near  so  plenty  as  they  were  seven  or  eight  years  ago. 
I  think  the  cause  of  this  is  that  they  have  been  hunted  so  much  by 
white  hunters,  who  use  shotguns  and  rifles.  (Wispoo.) 

Have  noticed  the  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast,  owing  to  so  many 
schooners  hunting  seals  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and 
Bering  Sea.  (Michael  Wooskort.) 

The  seal,  like  the  sea  otter,  are  becoming  very  scarce.  I  think  if  the 
schooners  were  prohibited  from  taking  seal  in  Bering  Sea  and  along  the 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  283 

coast  of  Alaska  the  seal  would  become  plentiful  and  the  Indians  could 
kill  them  once  more  in  canoes.     (Yalikah.) 

Since  the  white  men  with  schooners  began  to  hunt  seal  off  Prince  of 
Wales  Island  the  seal  have  become  very  scarce,  and  unless  they  are 
stopped  from  hunting  seal  they  will  soon  be  all  gone.  If  the  white  men 
are  permitted  to  hunt  seal  much  longer  the  fur  seal  will  become  as 
scarce  as  the  sea  otter,  which  were  quite  plenty  around  Dixons 
Entrance  when  1  was  a  boy.  The  Indians  are  obliged  to  go  a  long  way 
for  seal  now  and  often  return  after  two  or  three  days'  hunt  without 
taking  any.  (Hastings  Yethnow.) 

Seal  have  been  decreasing  very  rapidly  the  last  few  years,  and  it  is 
hard  for  our  people  to  get  them.  There  are  too  many  white  men  hunt- 
ing them  with  schooners  off  Prince  of  Wales  Island.  (Paul  Young.) 

Since  the  white  man  began  to  hunt  seal  they  are  becoming  very 
scarce.  (Walter  Young.) 

Within  the  last  live  or  six  years  seals  have  decreased  in  number  very 
fast  and  are  becoming  very  shy,  and  it  is  difficult  to  creep  upon  them 
and  hit  them  with  the  spear.  Years  ago  the  heads  of  seals  along  the 
coast  would  stick  up  out  of  the  water  almost  as  thick  as  the  stars  in 
the  heavens,  but  since  the  white  men  with  so  many  schooners  have 
come  and  began  to  shoot  and  kill  them  with  the  guns  they  have  become 
very  scarce.  (Hish  Yulla.) 

If  so  many  white  hunters  keep  hunting  the  seal  with  shotguns  as 
they  do  now  it  will  be  but  a  short  time  before  they  will  be  all  gone. 
(Thomas  Zolnoks.) 

DECREASE   OF   SEALS — RESULTS   OF   INDISCRIMINATE  SLAUGHTER. 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  the  sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water,  unless 
it  is  an  old  bull.  I  am  unable  to  state  anything  as  to  the  proportion 
of  females  taken,  but  the  seal  hunter  shoots  every  kind  of  seal  he  sees. 
(C.  A.  Abbey.) 

I  can  not  tell  the  difference  between  the  male  and  female  seal  while 
in  the  water,  except  it  be  an  old  bull.  (Peter  Brown.) 

I  shoot  all  seal  that  come  near  the  canoe  and  use  no  discrimination,  as  I 
can  not  distinguish  a  young  bull  from  a  cow  in  the  water.  All  hunters 
shoot  everything  that  comes  near  their  boats.  (Akatoo.) 

No  discrimination  is  or  can  be  used;  everything  is  game  that  comes 
within  range  of  the  hunter's  weapon.  (A.  B.  Alexander.) 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  the  male  from  the  female  at  a  distance 
in  the  water.  (H.  Andricius.) 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  sex  when  the  seals  are  swimming,  and 
killing  is  indiscriminate.  (Charles  Avery.) 

The  sex  of  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water.  I  shoot  everything  that 
comes  near  the  boat.  (Adam  Ayonkee.) 

I  used  no  discrimination,  but  killed  everything  that  came  near  the 
boat  in  shape  of  a  seal.  Never  stopped  to  ask  if  it  is  female  or  not.  A 
few  old  bulls  have  been  taken  by  me.  (Johnny  Baronovitch.) 

Everything  that  comes  near  the  boat  in  the  shape  of  a  seal  is  shot, 
regardless  of  sex.  (Maurice  Bates.) 


284  SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water;  I  shoot  everything 
that  conies  near  the  boat.  (Wilton  C.  Bennett.) 

We  kill  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat,  and  use  no  discrimina- 
tion, but  shoot  them  regardless  of  sex.  (Edward  Benson.) 

We  kill  everything  regardless  of  sex;  the  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be 
told  iu  the  waters.  (Martin  Benson.) 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  distinguish  the  female  seals  from  the  male 
in  the  water  unless  it  is  an  old  bull.  (Bernhardt  Bleidner.) 

It  is  not  possible  to  make  any  distinction  between  males  (other  than 
large  bulls)  and  females  of  the  fur-seal  species  at  sea  and  there  is  none 
attempted.  Full-powered  bulls  are,  however,  readily  recognized  at  sea 
by  their  much  larger  size  and  darker  fur;  they  are  seldom  taken,  their 
pelts  being  comparatively  valueless.  The  slaughter  is  therefore  indis- 
criminate, the  object  being  to  secure  all  the  skins  possible.  (J.  A. 
Bradley.) 

We  used  to  shoot  at  anything  we  ran  across,  and  got  about  a  third 
of  what  we  killed  or  wounded.  I  do  not  know  how  many  miles  off  the 
seal  islands  we  were  when  we  caught  them,  as  I  did  not  know  the  dis- 
tances. (Thomas  Bradley.) 

It  is  not  easy  to  tell  a  bull  from  a  cow  or  either  from  a  year-old  pup 
when  they  are  in  the  water,  and  the  hunters  must  shoot  at  all  the  seals 
they  see.  If  they  get  them  they  are  fortunate,  for  at  the  best  many 
are  lost.  Some  hunters  rarely  miss  a  seal  they  fire  at,  but  many  are 
wounded,  and  a  seal  with  a  charge  of  bullets  and  buckshot  in  him  must 
be  in  very  vigorous  health  to  recover.  Some  hunters  never  miss  a  seal 
during  the  season,  but  if  others  get  one  out  of  four  they  wound  they 
are  doing  well.  (William  Brennan.) 

It  is  practically  impossible  to  distinguish  the  age  or  sex  of  seals  in 
the  water  while  approaching  them  while  at  a  reasonable  gunshot  dis- 
tance from  them,  excepting  in  the  case  of  old  bulls.  (Henry  Brown.) 

Use  no  discrimination,  but  kill  all  seal  that  come  near  the  boat. 
The  best  way  to  shoot  seal  to  secure  them  is  to  shoot  them  in  the  back 
of  the  head  when  they  are  asleep  with  their  noses  in  the  water.  (Peter 
Brown.) 

I  can  not  distinguish  male  seals  from  female  at  a  distance  in  the 
water,  unless  it  be  an  old  bull  with  a  long  wig.  (Landis  Callapa.) 

I  can  not  distinguish  male  seals  from  female  in  the  water  except  in 
the  case  of  an  old  bull,  which  is  told  by  its  size.  Use  no  discrimination, 
but  kill  everything  in  the  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat. 
(Charles  Campbell.) 

There  is  no  way  of  distinguishing  the  sex  of  fur  seals  (except  large 
bulls)  in  the  water  at  sea,  nor  do  hunters  ever  make  any  effort  to 
do  so,  but,  on  the  contrary,  kill  all  seals  they  can  indiscriminately. 
(Vassili  Chichiuoff.) 

Sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water  unless  it  be  an  old  bull. 
All  seal  are  shot  that  come  near  the  boat,  regardless  of  sex.  (Simeon 
Chin-koo-tin.) 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  the  sex  of  the  fur  seal  in  the  water  at 
sea,  and  no  effort  was  made  to  do  so.  We  killed  all  fur  seals  indis- 
criminately. (Julius  Christiansen.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  285 

The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  distinguished  in  the  water.  1  shoot 
everything  that  comes  near  enough.  (Peter  Church.) 

I  am  unable  to  tell  a  male  seal  from  a  female  while  in  the  water, 
unless  it  be  an  old  bull  with  a  long  wig.  (James  Claplauboo.) 

The  sex  can  not  be  told  in  the  water,  and  all  are  shot  that  come  near 
the  boat.  No  discrimination  is  used;  hunters  kill  everything  they  see. 
(John  C.  Clement.) 

In  pelagic  sealing  no  distinction  is  made  by  hunters  as  to  the  sex  of 
the  seals,  the  killing  being  done  indiscriminately.  It  is  not  possible  to 
distinguish  between  the  male  and  female  seals  at  sea,  even  if  a  hunter 
so  desired,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  pelagic  sealing  will  soon  result 
in  the  total  extermination  of  the  species.  (M.  Cohen.) 

The  hunters  will  kill  any  seals  that  come  along,  it  being  impossible  to 
tell  the  sex  in  the  water.  (Peter  Collins.) 

All  seal  are  killed  that  come  near  the  canoe,  whether  it  is  male  or 
female;  I  make  no  difference.  In  former  years  there  were  lots  of  seal, 
but  now  there  are  very  few.  Too  many  schooners  hunting  them  all  the 
time  in  the  water,  killing  the  mother  seals  as  well  as  others.  (Charlie 
Dahtlin.) 

We  tried  to  shoot  them  while  asleep,  but  shot  all  that  came  in  our 
way.  (Alfred  Dardean.) 

Use  no  discrimination  in  killing  seal,  but  shoot  everything  that 
comes  near  the  boat  in  the  shape  of  a  seal.  IJuuters  shoot  seal  in  the 
most  exposed  part  of  the  body.  (George  Dishow.) 

I  can  not  tell  the  sex  of  the  seal  in  the  water.     (Peter  Duffy.) 

I  never  examine  them  to  know  whether  they  are  male  or  female  seal. 
I  can  not  tell  the  difference  in  the  water,  and  shoot  everything  without 
knowing  whether  they  are  male  or  female.  (Echon.) 

While  there  is  some  difference  in  the  appearance  of  the  female  and 
old  male  seals,  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  possible  for  the  hunters  to 
tell  that  difference  in  the  sea  at  any  great  distance.  (M.  C.  Erskiue.) 

Everything  in  shape  of  seal  that  conies  near  the  boat  is  killed. 
(Chief  Frank.) 

I  can  not  tell  the  sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water;  use  no  discrimination, 
but  kill  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat.  (Luke  Frank.) 

There  is  no  way  by  which  hunters  can  distinguish  sex  while  the  seals 
are  in  the  water,  nor  do  we  aim  to  do  so;  the  killing  is  always  done  in 
an  indiscriminate  way.  (Thomas  Frazer.) 

I  could  not  tell  whether  a  seal  was  a  male  or  female  while  it  was  in 
the  water,  unless  it  was  an  old  bull.  (William  Frazer.) 

There  is  no  way  that  I  know  of  to  distinguish  the  sex  of  a  seal  when 
it  is  in  the  water.  No  attempt  is  made  to  discriminate  the  sex  so  as  to 
kill  only  males.  (F.  F.  Feeny.) 

Can  not  distinguish  the  sex  of  seal  in  the  water,  but  spear  every- 
thing that  comes  near  the  boat,  regardless  of  sex.  (Chad.  George.) 

I  have  never  examined  the  seal  as  to  sex.  I  shoot  everything  that 
comes  near  the  boat,  and  use  no  discrimination  whatever.  (Charles 
Gibson.) 


286  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

I  kill  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat,  and  use  no  discrimination, 
as  the  sex  can  not  be  told  in  the  water,  except  it  be  an  old  bull,  which 
is  told  by  its  size.  (Gouastut.) 

(3an  not  distinguish  sex  of  seal  in  the  water.  Hunters  use  no  dis- 
crimination, and  kill  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat.  (James 
Gondowen.) 

We  have  no  way  of  distinguishing  fur  seals  in  the  water  at  sea  as  to 
whether  males  or  females,  and  do  not  try  to  do  so,  but  kill  all  we  can 
indiscriminately.  (Xicoli  Gregoroff.) 

Every  seal  is  shot  that  comes  near  the  boat,  regardless  of  sex;  hunt- 
erj»  use  no  discrimination.  (James  Griffin.) 

Among  all  other  fur  seals  at  sea  no  distinction  is  possible,  and  none  is 
attempted.  The  killing  is  indiscriminate,  the  object  being  to  secure 
all  the  pelts  possible.  Bulls  are,  however,  readily  recognized  at  sea  by 
their  larger  size  and  darker  fur.  (A.  J.  Gould.) 

I  always  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat;  cannot  tell  the 
sex  in  the  water.  (Henry  Haldane.) 

I  use  no  discrimination  in  sealing,  but  shoot  everything  that  comes 
near  the  boat,  regardless  of  sex.  (Martin  Hannon.) 

I  can't  tell  a  male  from  a  female  while  in  the  water  at  a  distance. 
(James  Harrison.) 

My  experience  has  been  that  the  vessels  employed  in  hunting  seals 
shoot,  indiscriminately,  pups,  male  and  female  seals,  regardless  of  age 
or  sex;  and  even  should  sealers  wish  to  discriminate  in  the  killing  it 
would  not  be  possible  for  them  to  do  so.  My  study  of  them  in  a  long 
experience  has  not  enabled  me  to  positively  distinguish  the  sex  of  a 
seal  while  in  the  water.  It  is  the  custom  to  pay  seal  hunters  per  skins 
taken ;  hence  it  is  the  object  of  the  hunters  to  secure  as  many  as  pos- 
sible, without  reference  to  sex,  age,  or  condition.  While  hunting  they 
use  small  rowboats,  with  two  or  three  men  in  each  boat  armed  with 
shotgun  and  rifle,  chiefly  the  former,  and  it  would  be  simply  impossi- 
ble for  the  master  or  owners,  even  should  they  desire  it,  to  supervise 
ten  or  a  dozen  hunters  as  to  the  killing  of  any  particular  sex  or  kind. 
(M.  A.  Healy.) 

It  is  difficult  to  tell  the  sex  of  a  seal  which  you  shoot  at  in  the  water; 
but  you  can  tell  an  old  seal  from  a  young  seal.  (William  Hermann.) 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  positively  between  females  and  males 
(other  than  large  bulls)  in  the  water  at  sea,  and  no  effort  is  made  to  do 
so.  Full-powered  bulls  are  readily  recognized  by  their  great  bulk  and 
darker  fur.  The  killing  of  the  fur  seals  is  therefore  absolutely  indis- 
criminate, as  the  object  is  to  secure  all  the  skins  possible,  irrespective 
of  sex,  age,  or  condition.  (Norman  Hodgson.) 

Hunters  use  no  discrimination  in  shooting  seal,  but  kill  everything 
that  comes  near  the  boat.  They  could  not  discriminate  if  they  wanted 
to,  as  the  sex  can  not  be  told  in  the  water.  (O.  Holm.) 

Everything  in  the  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat  is  killed. 
(Jack  Johnson.) 

I  am  unable  to  distinguish  a  male  seal  from  a  female  seal  at  a  distance 
in  the  water.  (Selwish  Johnson.) 

I  shoot  everything  in  the  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat, 
and  use  no  discrimination.  (Johnnie  John  tin.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  "287 

The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water  unless  in  the  case  of 
an  old  bull,  which  is  told  by  its  size.  We  use  no  discrimination  in 
shooting  seal.  Everything  is  killed  that  comes  near  the  boat,  regard- 
less of  sex.  (Philip  Kashevaroft'.) 

We  can  not  tell  the  difference  between  a  male  and  a  female  in  the 
water,  but  kill  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat.  (King  Kaskwa.) 

All  killing  of  seals  in  the  water  must  of  necessity  be  indiscriminate 
slaughter,  as  it  is  impossible  to  tell  the  sex  or  the  exact  age  of  a  seal 
until  it  lias  been  taken  into  the  boat,  whereas  on  land  careful  discrimi- 
nation can  be  made.  (Francis  R.  King  Hall.) 

Hunters  use  no  discrimination  in  hunting  seal,  but  shoot  everything 
that  comes  near  the  boat.  (Kinkooga.) 

Hunters  always  kill  all  seal  that  come  near  the  boat,  regardless  of 
sex.  (C.  Klananeck.) 

I  kill  everything  that  conies  near  the  canoe,  regardless  of  sex. 
(Robert  Kooko.) 

I  always  kill  every  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat;  hunters  use  no 
discrimination.  (John  Kowineet.) 

Have  never  killed  but  few  old  bulls  in  my  life.  The  only  seal  that 
can  be  distinguished  in  the  water  is  the  old  bull,  which  can  be  told  by 
its  size.  Everything  in  shape  of  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat  is 
killed  if  possible,  regardless  of  sex.  (George  Lacheek.) 

We  can  not  distinguish  between  the  sexes  of  fur  seals  in  the  water  at 
sea,  nor  do  we  try  to.  On  the  contrary,  everything  in  sight  is  taken  if 
possible,  except  large  bulls,  whose  skins  are  worthless.  (E.  L.  Lawson.) 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  between  males  and  females  of  the  fur- 
seal  species  in  the  water  at  sea,  excepting  large  bulls,  and  no  effort  is 
made  to  do  so.  The  object  is  to  get  all  the  marketable  skins  possible, 
and  the  killing  is  consequently  indiscriminate.  The  pelts  of  large  bulls, 
whose  fur  is  coarse  and  of  little  value,  and  of  yearlings  of  both  sexes, 
whose  skins  are  too  small,  not  being  strictly  marketable  skins,  they 
were  not  taken.  (James  E.  Lennan.) 

Of  late  years  most  of  the  catches  of  Northwest  skins  are  sold  at  a 
certain  price  per  skin  without  particular  examination.  The  dealers, 
knowing  the  location  from  which  the  skins  are  obtained,  make  an 
average  price,  and  owners  and  hunters  are,  therefore,  less  particular 
than  they  were  in  former  years  as  to  the  class  of  animals  they  capture. 
They  kill  everything  they  see  without  regard  to  age  or  sex,  their  only 
object  being  to  swell  the  total  number  of  the  catch  to  the  highest  pos- 
sible figure.  (Isaac  Liebes.) 

But  of  course  you  could  not  tell  when  you  shot  a  seal  lying  asleep 
whether  it  was  a  male  or  female.  We  shoot  at  all  the  seals  when  we 
get  a  chance,  but  it  is  only  the  ones  that  we  find  asleep  that  we  catch. 
(Caleb  Lindahl.) 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  the  sex  of  fur  seals  at  sea  (excepting 
large  bulls)  and  no  effort  is  made  to  do  so,  the  object  being  to  secure 
all  the  skins  possible;  hence  the  killing  is  indiscriminate.  (E.  W. 
Littlejohn.) 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  the  sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water.  (William  H. 
Long.) 


288  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Everything  was  killed  that  caine  near  the  boat;  we  did  not  use  any 
discrimination.  (George  McAlpiiie.) 

The  sex  can  not  be  distinguished  in  the  water  unless  it  be  the  case 
•of  an  old  bull,  which  is  distinguished  by  its  size.  Everything  is  killed 
ill  the  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat.  (J.  D.  McDonald.) 

When  we  find  weather  we  are  out  in  the  boats  killing  all  the  seals  we 
can  get.  We  can  not  hunt  in  rough  weather.  (William  Mclsaac.) 

Sex  of  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water.  We  use  no  discrimination 
and  kill  all  seal  that  come  near  the  boat.  Seal  are  not  shot  in  any  par- 
ticular place;  shoot  them  in  the  head  if  possible;  if  not,  in  the  body. 
(James  McKeen.) 

It  makes  no  difference  if  a  seal  is  a  male  or  female;  we  shoot  every- 
thing that  comes  near  enough.  (Edward  Maitland.) 

I  know  it  to  be  the  custom  of  seal  hunters  to  shoot  seals  at  sea  when 
they  are  at  rest  upon  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  that  those  generally 
obtained  are  females,  and  constitute  but  a  very  small  portion  of  those 
killed  and  lost.  (John  Malowansky.) 

Everything  that  comes  near  the  boat  in  shape  of  a  seal  is  shot.  I 
•can  not  tell  the  sex  of  a  seal  till  after  it  is  dead.  (Frederick  Mason.) 

We  hunted  with  shotguns  and  shot  them  mostly  when  they  were 
asleep  on  the  water,  or  any  chance  we  could  get.  I  was  a  boat  puller, 
and  the  hunters  shot  at  everything  in  sight.  (Henry  Mason.) 

We  generally  tried  to  kill  them  while  asleep  in  the  water,  but  fired  at 
everything  that  came  around  us.  (Thorwal  Mathasan.) 

I  use  no  discrimination  in  shooting  seals ;  shoot  everything  that  conies 
near  the  boat,  and  all  other  hunters  do  the  same.  (G.  E.  Miner.) 

Q.  If  awake,  do  you  shoot  them  while  breaching? — A.  Yes,  sir;  we 
shoot  at  them  anywhere,  either  while  they  are  breaching  or  heads  up, 
or  any  way.  (Frank  Moreau.) 

We  shot  at  everything  in  sight.  We  killed  more  females  than  males, 
and  we  lost  a  good  many  that  we  killed.  (Eddie  Morehead.) 

Shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat  in  shape  of  a  seal,  and  use 
no  discrimination.  (Matthew  Morris.) 

The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water.  Hunters  use  no 
discrimination,  but  kill  everything  they  can.  (Nashtau.) 

We  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  canoe  in  shape  of  a  seal, 
regardless  of  sex.  The  sex  can  not  be  told  in  the  water  unless  it  be  an 
old  bull.  (Dan  Nathlan.) 

Everything  is  killed  that  comes  near  the  canoe  in  shape  of  a  seal. 
We  can  not  tell  a  male  from  a  female  in  the  water.  (Joseph  Neishkaitk.) 

I  can  not  tell  the  age  or  sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water.    (Niles  Nelson.) 

I  can  not  tell  the  difference  between  a  male  and  female  seal  in  the 
water,  and  I  shoot  every  seal  that  comes  near  the  canoe.  (Ntkla-ah.) 

Sex  can  not  be  distinguished  while  the  seals  are  in  the  water,  nor  do 
the  hunters  try  to  do  so,  for  they  kill  everything  they  can  shoot.  (Kel- 
son T.  Oliver.) 

I  am  unable  to  tell  the  sex  of  the  seal  while  it  is  in  the  water,  unless 
it  be  an  old  bull  with  a  long  wig.  (Osly.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBTLOF    ISLANDS.  289 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  the  male  seal  from  tLe  female  when 
they  are  in  the  water  at  a  reasonable  gunshot  distance.  (Charles 
Peterson.) 

Yearlings  are  rarely  taken  in  North  Pacific.  The  age  or  sex  of  a  seal 
in  the  water  can  not  lie  distinguished,  except  that  when  close  the  appar- 
ent size  is  an  indication  of  age.  (W.  Roberts.) 

I  use  a  shotgun  to  hunt  for  seal.  Have  lost  very  few  seal,  as  I  always 
shoot  them  near  the  boat.  Everything  in  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes 
near  the  boat  is  killed.  L  use  no  discrimination.  (Eondtus.) 

Everything  in  the  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat  is  shot. 
Hunters  use  no  discrimination,  but  kill  everything  that  puts  its  head 
above  the  water.  (Abel  Ryan.) 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  a  male  from  a  female  seal  in  the  water, 
except  in  the  case  of  a  very  old  bull,  when  his  size  distinguishes  him. 
Therefore  open-sea  sealing  is  entirely  indiscriminate  as  to  sex  or  age. 
(L.  G.  Shepard.) 

All  seal  are  killed  that  come  near  the  boat.  I  never  stop  to  consider 
whether  it  is  a  male  or  female,  but  kill  it  off  if  I  can.  (Jack  Shucky.) 

Hunters  use  no  discrimination,  but  shoot  everything  that  comes  near 
them.  Their  sex  can  not  be  told  unless  in  the  case  of  an  old  bull,  which 
is  distinguishable  by  its  size.  (Jack  Sitka.) 

The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water.  I  kill  everything 
that  comes  near  my  canoe  in  shape  of  a  seal,  and  all  other  hunters  do 
the  same.  (Thomas  Skowl.) 

Always  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat  in  shape  of  a  seal, 
regardless  of  sex.  (George  Skultka.) 

Hunters  use  no  discrimination,  but  shoot  everything  that  come  near 
the  boat.  (Fred  Smith.) 

It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  between  male  and  female  seals  at  sea, 
even  if  the  hunters  so  desired,  except  in  the  case  of  full-powered  bulls, 
when  they  are  readily  recognized  by  their  greatly  superior  size.  Large 
bulls  are  rarely  taken.  No  distinction  is  thought  of  by  pelagic  sealers, 
and  the  killing  is  done  indiscriminately,  the  object  being  to  secure  as 
many  skins  as  possible.  (John  W.  Smith.) 

I  can  not  tell  the  sex  of  the  seal  in  the  water,  unless  he  is  an  old 
bull.  A  hunter  will  blaze  away  at  anything  he  sees  in  the  water.  (E. 
W.  Soron.) 

Hunters  use  no  discrimination,  but  shoot  everything  in  the  shape  of 
a  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat.  (Joshua  Stickland.) 

All  seals  are  killed  that  come  near  the  boat,  regardless  of  their  sex. 
I  never  look  to  see  whether  I  have  killed  a  male  or  female  seal  until  I 
have  the  seal  dead  in  the  boat.  (M.  Thlkahdayuahkee.) 

Hunters  use  no  discrimination  in  killing  seal,  but  kill  everything  that 
comes  near  the  boat,  regardless  of  sex.  (W.  Thomas.) 

The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water  when  hunting.  We 
use  no  discrimination,  but  kill  everything  in  the  shape  of  a  seal  that 
comes  near  the  boat.  (Charlie  Tlaksatan.) 

Hunters  use  no  discrimination  in  taking  seal,  but  kill  everything  that 
pokes  its  head  out  of  the  water  near  the  boat.     (John  C.  Tolmau.) 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 19 


290  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIB1LOF    ISLANDS. 

The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water.  Hunters  use  no 
discrimination  and  everything  in  the  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes  near 
the  boat  is  killed.  (Peter  Trearsheit.) 

Sex  of  seal  can  not  be  distinguished  in  the  water,  except  in  the  case 
of  an  old  bull,  which  can  be  told  by  its  size.  No  discrimination  is  used 
in  taking  seal;  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat  is  shot  at.  (James 
Unatajim.) 

I  always  shoot  everything  that  conies  near  the  boat,  regardless  of 
sex.  We  use  no  discrimination.  (George  Usher.) 

Sex  of  seal  can  not  be  distinguished  in  the  water.  No  discrimination 
is  used  in  seal  hunting;  all  are  killed  that  come  near.  (Rudolph 
Walton.) 

The  sex  of  seal  of  same  age  can  not  be  distinguished  in  the  water. 
The  only  seal  that  can  be  distinguished  is  an  old  bull.  We  use  no  dis- 
crimination in  seal  hunting;  everything  is  killed  that  conies  near  the 
boat.  Pelagic  hunters  have  become  so  plentiful  and  seals  have  become 
so  wild  that  we  are  obliged  to  take  long  shots  at  them.  (Charlie  Wauk.) 

Our  purpose  and  practice  was  to  take  all  the  seals  we  could  get, 
regardless  of  their  age  or  sex,  without  any  discrimination  whatever. 
(Michael  White.) 

Everything  in  the  shape  of  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat  is  shot.  I 
can't  tell  the  difference  between  a  young  cow  and  a  male  seal.  (Fred 
Wilson.) 

The  seals  are  getting  wild  and  hard  to  catch.  There  are  a  great 
many  green  hands  in  the  business.  We  shot  at  everything  that  came 
along.  We  were  getting  50  cents  for  every  skin  obtained.  Our  boats 
went  30  and  40  miles  from  the  schooner.  Sometimes  they  would  leave 
in  the  morning  at  5  and  not  return  until  the  next  day  at  4  or  5  in  the 
evening.  (John  Woodruff.) 

The  sex  of  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water.  No  discrimination  is 
used  in  seal  hunting.  All  seal  are  killed  that  come  near  the  boat.  The 
only  seal  that  can  be  distinguished  in  the  water  is  an  old  bull.  (Michael 
Wooskoot.) 

I  can  not  distinguish  the  sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water,  but  kill  every  seal 
that  conies  near  the  canoe,  if  possible.  (Billy  Yeltachy.) 

I  can  not  tell  the  sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water,  and  use  no  discrimi- 
nation, but  kill  everything  that  comes  near  my  canoe  in  the  shape  of  a 
seal.  (Hastings  Yethnow.) 

We  use  no  discrimination  in  killing  seal,  but  shoot  everything  that 
comes  near  the  boat.  What  seals  we  have  seen  this  year  are  very  wild 
and  hard  to  get  at.  The  cause  of  their  being  wild  is  the  indiscriminate 
shooting  of  them  in  the  water.  (Alf.  Yohansen.) 

I  use  no  discrimination,  and  kill  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat 
in  the  shape  of  a  seal.  (Paul  Young.) 

I  can  not  tell  the  difference  between  a  male  and  a  female  in  the  water; 
use  no  discrimination,  but  kill  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat. 
(Walker  Young.) 

We  fired  at  all  the  seals  we  could,  regardless  of  their  sex.  We  got 
one  out  of  every  six  or  seven  we  shot  at  or  killed.  (George  Zam- 
mett.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIJ3ILOF    ISLANDS.  291 


m;sTIM  OTION    OF   PKEGNANT   FEMALES. 

We  caught  about  185  seals,  mostly  females  in  young,  and  we  killed 
them  while  they  were  asleep  on  the  water.  (Charles  Adair.) 

Most  of  the  seals  killed  by  nie  have  been  females  with  pup.     (Akatoo.) 

We  sealed  along  the  coast  and  captured  154.  Most  all  of  them  were 
pregnant  females.  (Charles  Avery.) 

Most  all  seals  that  I  have  killed  were  pregnant  cows.  Have  taken  a 
few  male  seals  from  1  to  4  years  old,  I  think.  Have  never  killed  an  old 
bull.  (Adam  Ayonkee.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  were  with  pupf— 
A.  About  99  per  cent  of  the  cows  taken  were  with  pup.  There  may  be 
one  in  a  hundred  that  is  either  without  pup  or  has  had  one.  (George 
Ball.) 

Most  all  the  seals  taken  are  females  with  pup.     (Johnnie  Baronvitch.) 

Seventy-live  per  cent  of  the  seal  taken  on  the  coast  are  cows  with 
pup.  (Martin  Benson.) 

We  left  Port  Town  send  in  May  and  sealed  south  to  Cape  Flattery, 
and  then  went  north  along  the  coast  until  we  came  to  Unimak  Pass, 
and  captured  from  ;WO  to  400  seals.  Most  all  were  females  and  had 
pups  in  them.  1  think  fully  two-thirds  of  all  we  caught  were  females, 
and  a  few  were  bulls.  *  *  *  We  secured  500  skins  along  the  coast, 
most  all  of  which  were  pregnant  females.  (Bernhardt  Bleidner.) 

I  have  never  killed  any  full-grown  cows  on  the  coast  that  did  not 
have  pups  in  them,  and  I  have  hunted  all  the  way  from  the  Columbia 
Jliver  to  Barclay  Sound.  (Bowa-chup.) 

We  left  Arictoria  about  May,  going  north,  and  sealed  all  the  way  to 
Bering  Sea.  We  had  about  GO  before  entering  Bering  Sea,  nearly  all 
of  which  were  females  with  young  pups  in  them.  (Thomas  Bradley.) 

Our  last  catch  of  seals  on  the  coast  were  almost  exclusively  gravid 
females.  (Henry  Brown.) 

We  had  250  seals  before  entering  the  sea,  the  largest  percentage  of 
which  were  females,  most  of  them  having  young  pups  in  them.  I  saw 
some  of  the  young  pups  taken  out  of  them.  (Thomas  Brown.) 

On  my  last  sealing  cruise  this  spring  we  caught  five  seals;  two  of 
them  were  females  and  had  pups  in  them ;  three  of  them  were  young 
and  smaller  seals  and  had  black  whiskers.  None  but  full-grown  cows 
have  white  whiskers,  but  young  cows  and  young  bulls  have  black 
whiskers.  About  half  of  all  the  seals  captured  along  the  coast  have 
white  whiskers  and  are  cows  with  pups  in  them.  Most  all  full-grown 
cows  that  are  caught  have  pups  in  them.  Once,  late  in  the  season,  I 
caught  a  full  grown  barren  cow  with  white  whiskers.  (Landis  Callapa.) 

Seventy-five  per  cent  of  seals  shot  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  are 
females  heavy  with  young.  (John  C.  Cantwell.) 

Most  of  the  seals  we  killed  going  up  the  coast  were  females  heavy 
with  pup.  I  think  nine  out  of  every  ten  were  females.  (Charles 
Challall.) 

Not  quite  half  of  all  seals  caught  along  the  coast  are  cows  with  pups 
in  them.  About  half  are  young  seals,  both  male  and  female,  and  the 


292  SEAL    LIFK    ON    THK    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

rest  ia  small  number;  are  medium-sized  males.  We  never  get  any  old 
bulls  worth  speaking  of.  and  we  do  not  catch  as  many  gray  pups  now 
as  formerly.  I  hue  not  caught  any  gray  pups  this  year.  Do  not  know 
what  has  become  of  them.  Have  never  caught  any  full  grown  cows 
without  pups  in  them,  and  have  never  caught  any  cows  in  milk  along 
the  coast.  < ( 'harlie. ) 

Of  those  secured,  the  larger  part  by  far  were  females,  and  the  majority 
of  these  were  pregnant  cows.  (Julius  Christiansen.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  me  have  been  females  with  young.  A 
few  male  seals  have  been  taken  by  me,  their  ages  ranging  from  1  to  f> 
years  old.  Killed  three  large  bulls  during  my  life.  (Peter  Church.) 

A  great  many  years  ago  we  used  to  catch  about  one-half  cows  and 
one-half  young  seals.  I  never  caught  any  seals  along  the  coast  that 
had  given  birth  to  their  young  and  that  had  milk  in  their  breasts.  1 
never  captured  any  barren  cows.  *  *  *  \\"e  secured  ten  seals  in  all, 
live  of  which  had  pups  in  them.  1  know  this  because  I  saw  the  pups 
when  we  cut  the  carcasses  open.  *  *  The  other  five  seals  were 

smaller  and  probably  male  and  female.     (Circus  Jim.) 

About  half  the  seals  killed  by  me  have  been  cows  with  pup.  1  never 
shot  but  two  old  bulls  in  my  life.  Have  shot  a  few  yearling  seals.  The 
young  males  I  have  killed  were  between  li  and  .'5  years  old,  1  think. 
(William  Clark.) 

The  seals  we  catch  along  the  coast  are  nearly  all  pregnant  females. 
It  is  seldom  we  capture  an  old  bull,  and  what  males  we  get  are  usually 
young  ones.  1  have  frequently  seen  cow  seals  cut  open  and  the  unborn 
pups  cut  out  of  them  and  they  would  live  for  several  days.  This  is  a 
frequent  occurrence.  (Christ  Clausen.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  were  with  pup? — A. 
About  70  per  cent.  (Peter  Collins.) 

The  majority  of  seals  taken  are  cows  with  pup:  once  in  a  while  we 
take  an  old  bull.  A  few  yearlings  are  taken  also.  (Charlie  Dahtlin.) 

From  75  to  so  per  cent  of  all  the  seals  taken  were  mothers  in  young, 
and  when  cut  open  on  deck  we  found  the  young  within  them.  (.James 
Dalgarduo.) 

We  had  between  100  and  .'>00  seals  before  entering  the  sea.  Most  all 
of  them  were  females  with  pups  in  them.  (John  Dalton.) 

( )f  the  seals  that  were  caught  oil'  the  coast  fully  00  out  of  every  100  had 
young  pups  in  them.  The  boats  would  bring  the  seals  killed  on  board 
the  vessel  and  we  would  take  the  young  pups  out  and  skin  them.  If 
the  pup  is  a  good,  nice  one  we  would  skin  it  and  keep  it  for  ourselves. 
I  had  eight  such  skins  myself.  Four  out  of  live,  if  caught  in  May  or 
.June,  would  be  alive  when  we  cut  them  out  of  the  mothers.  One  of 
them  we  kept  for  pretty  nearly  three  weeks  alive  on  deck  by  feeding  it 
on  condensed  milk.  One  of  the  men  finally  killed  it  because  it  cried  so 
pitifully.  (Alfred  Dardean.) 

In  all  my  experience,  in  sealing  on  this  coast  I  have  killed  but  one 
cow  seal  that  had  milk  in  her  breast,  and  that  had  given  birth  to  her 
pup.  I  have  killed  a  very  few  barren  cows  along  the  coast.  Nearly  all 
of  the  full  grown  cows  along  the  coast  have  pups  in  them.  (Frank 
Davis.) 

We  sailed  from  San  Francisco  to  Queen  Charlotte  Island,  and  caught 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  293 

between  500  and  000  son  Is,  nearly  all  females  heavy  with  young.  I 
have  seen  a  young  live  pup  taken  out  of  its  mother  and  kept  alive  for 
three  or  lour  days.  We  sealed  from  10  to  1_!0  miles  off  the  coast. 
(Joseph  Dennis.) 

A  large  proportion  of  all  seals  taken  are  females  with  pup.  A  very 
few  yearlings  are  taken.  Never  examine  them  as  to  sex.  But  very 
few  old  bulls  are  taken,  but  live  being  taken  out  of  a  total  of  1)00  seals 
by  my  schooner.  (George  Iiishow.) 

We  left  Victoria  the  latter  end  of  January,  and  went  South  to  Cape 
I.ianco.  sealing  around  there  two  or  three  'months,  when  we  started 
north  to  Bering  Sea,  sealing'  all  the  way  up.  We  had  between  _M)0  and 
.'JOO  seals  before  entering  the  sea,  a  great  many  of  them  being  females 
with  pups  in  them.  (Richard  Dolan.) 

The  Indians  left  their  homes  in  March  and  remained  away  until  May. 
Their  hunting  lodges  were  on  some  small  islands  outside  of  Dundas 
Island.  From  what  they  tell  me  the  majority  of  seals  taken  by  them 
have  been  females  with  young.  (William  Duncan.) 

We  went  north  to  Bering  Sea,  sealing  all  the  way  up,  and  got  110 
seals  before  entering  the  sea.  Most  of  them  were  cows,  nearly  all  of 
which  had  pups  in  them.  We  took  some  of  the  pups  alive  out  of  the 
bodies  of  the  females.  (George  Fairchild.) 

Most  all  of  the  females  taken  are  with  young,  or  mothers.  (F.  F. 
Feeny.) 

There  were  cow  seals  with  pup  among  the  seals  that  1  have  taken, 
but  don't  know  how  many.  I  have  never  taken  an  old  bull  in  my  life. 
(Chief  Frank.) 

I  think  the  seals  taken  by  me  are  about  half  females  with  pup,  and 
the  rest  are  1  and  2  year  old  males  and  yearlings;  never  examined  the 
yearlings  as  to  sex.  (Luke  Frank.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  were  with  pup  f — 
A.  All  that  are  killed  in  the  Pacific  are  with  pup,  and  those  that  are 
killed  in  Bering  Sea  have  been  delivered  of  pups  on  the  islands  and  are 
with  milk.  (Luther  T.  Franklin.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  were  with  pup? — 
A.  About  GO  per  cent  were  with  pup.  (Edward  W.  Fuucke.) 

Most  all  the  seals  taken  by  me  were  females  with  pup.  Most  of  the 
seals  killed  in  Bering  Sea  have  been  cows  with  milk.  Have  never 
taken  a  bull  seal  off  the  coast  of  Washington,  but  have  taken  a  few 
farther  north.  A  few  young  males  are  taken  off  the  coast  of  Washing- 
ton. (Chad  George.) 

I  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  the  sex  of  seals  we  killed  in  the 
North  Pacific,  but  know  that  a  great  number  of  them  were  cows  that 
had  pups  in  them,  and  we  killed  most  of  them  while  they  were  asleep 
on  the  water.  (Thomas  Gibson.) 

Most  of  the  seals  killed  are  cows  with  pup.  A  few  males  are  killed, 
averaging  from  1  to  4  years  old.  Have  killed  but  one  old  bull  in  my 
life.  A  few  yearlings  are  taken,  the  majority  of  which  are  females. 
(James  Gondowen.) 

We  captured  03  seals,  all  of  which  were  females,  and  all  were  preg- 
nant. With  regard  to  pregnancy,  I  may  note  that  the  seals  taken  off 
the  coast  of  Vancouver  Island  were  not  so  far  advanced  as  those  taken 


294  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS. 

farther  north.  *  *  *  I  am  acquainted  with  the  hunters  and  masters 
who  sail  from  this  port,  and  board  all  incoming  and  outgoing  vessels  of 
that  class.  These  men  all  acknowledge  that  nearly  all  the  seals  taken 
off  the  Pacific  Coast  are  females,  and  that  they  are  nearly  all  with 
young.  (E.  M.  Greenleaf.) 

We  began  sealing  off  the  northern  coast  of  California  and  followed 
the  sealing  herd  northward,  capturing  about  700  seals  in  the  North 
Pacific  Ocean,  two-thirds  of  which  were  females  with  pup;  the  balance 
were  young  seals,  both  male  and  female.  We  captured  between  900 
and  1,000  on  the  coast,  most  all  of  which  were  females  with  pups. 
(Arthur  Griffin.) 

The  catch  was  mostly  females.  Those  we  got  in  the  North  Pacific 
were  females  in  pup,  and  those  taken  in  Bering  Sea  were  cows  giving 
milk.  (Joseph  Grymes.) 

Of  the  skins  taken  in  this  region  fully  nine-tenths  are  pregnant  and 
milking  females,  but  I  never  saw  a  young  pup  in  the  water.  Large 
bulls  were  never  taken,  their  skins  being  practically  valueless.  (A.  J. 
Guild.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  are  taken  with  pups? — A.  All  the 
large  ones  have — all  the  grown  ones  have.  Very  seldom  you  find  a 
barren  one.  (Charles  H.  Hagmau.) 

A  large  majority  of  seals  taken  are  females  with  young.  Only  two 
old  bulls  were  taken  by  me  last  year  out  of  the  100  seals  taken.  But 
very  few  yearlings  are  taken.  Paid  no  attention  to  sex.  A  few  male 
seals  are  taken  between  2  and  4  years  old,  I  think.  (Martin  Haunon.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  taken  are  with  pups? — A.  You  can 
safely  say  about  four-fifths  of  them.  You  get  about  800  out  of  1,000 
seals.  (H.  Harmsen.) 

I  am  told  the  white  hunter  kills  mostly  cow  seals  with  pup.  (Sam 
Hayikahtla.) 

I  have  often  conversed  with  masters,  seamen,  and  hunters  engaged 
in  hunting  the  fur  seals,  and  their  statements  to  me  have  always  been 
that  the  capture  of  a  male  seal  was  a  rarity;  that  nearly  all  of  their 
catch  were  cow  seals  heavy  with  young,  or  those  who  had  given  birth 
to  their  young  on  the  islands  and  gone  out  to  the  fishing  bank  to  feed, 
and  that  they  lose  a  large  proportion  of  those  killed  and  wounded. 
(J.  M.  Hays.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  were  with  pup? — 
A.  At  least  60  per  cent  were  with  pup.  (William  Henson.) 

Of  the  seals  secured  in  a  season  fully  70  per  cent  are  females,  and  of 
these  more  than  60  per  cent  are  pregnant  and  milking  cows.  The  males 
taken  are  about  equally  divided  in  numbers  between  yearlings  and 
bachelors  from  the  ages  of  2  to  5  years ;  bulls  are  seldom  shot.  (Nor- 
man Hodgson.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  were  with  pup? — 
A.  A  bout  the  same  amount  (about  95  per  cent)  were  with  pup.  (And.  J. 
Hoffman.) 

Most  all  seals  taken  are  females  with  young.  *  *  *  A  few  male 
seal  are  taken.  I  would  say  they  are  generally  3  or  4  years  old.  A  few 
yearlings  are  killed,  mostly  females.  About  five  bull  seal  are  killed  out 
of  every  hundred  taken.  (E.  Hofstad.) 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  295 

> 

About  one-half  of  those  caught  along  the  coast  were  full-grown  cows 
with  pups  in  them;  a  few  were  medium-sized  males,  and  the  rest  were 
younger  seals  of  botli  sexes.  I  have  never  caught  a  full  grown  cow  in 
the  straits  or  along  the  coast  that  did  not  have  a  pup  in  her.  (Alfred 
Irving.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  taken  are  with  pup? — A.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  season,  up  to  June,  all  the  full-grown  cows  are  with 
pup'. 

<A).  Did  you  ever  kill  any  cows  whose  young  were  born,  and  were 
giving  milk? — A.  That  I  don't  remember  taking  notice  of.  I  can  not 
answer  that  question.  (Gustave  Isaacson.) 

The  female  seals  go  through  the  passes  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  into 
Bering  Sea  between  June  25  and  July  15.  Females  killed  previous  to 
this  time  I  found  with  pups,  but  none  with  pups  after  that  latter  date. 
(Victor  Jacobson.) 

We  began  to  seal  when  about  20  miles  off  Cape  Flattery.  Wre  worked 
toward  the  northwest,  and  captured  between  60  and  100  seals  on  the 
coast,  about  two-thirds  of  which  were  females  with  pup;  the  balance 
were  yearlings  consisting  of  male  and  female;  after  which  we  ran  into 
Barclay  Sound  for  supplies,  from  which  place  we  worked  to  the  north- 
ward toward  Bering  Sea.  We  captured  about  80  seals  while  en  route 
to  the  sea;  about  two  thirds  of  these  were  females  with  pup,  the  balance 
being  yearlings  about  one-half  male  and  one-half  female.  (James 
Jamiesou.) 

We  began  sealing  off  Barclay  Sound,  and  caught  three  skins  only, 
all  of  which  were  females  with  pup.  *  *  *  In  hunting  along  the 
coast,  I  think  about  80  per  cent  of  those  we  caught  were  females,  and 
most  of  them  were  carrying  their  young.  We  seldom  caught  any 
bulls,  but  caught  a  few  of  the  younger  males.  I  have  seen  the  unborn 
young  cut  out  of  the  mother  seal  and  live  for  a  week  without  food.  We 
used  to  skin  some,  but  threw  most  of  them  overboard.  (James 
Jamieson.) 

A  majority  of  the  seal  taken  on  the  coast  are  cows  with  pup.  A  few 
young  males  are  taken,  the  ages  ranging  from  1  to  5  years.  Once  in 
awhile  an  old  bull  is  taken  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean".  ( J.  Johnson.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  are  females  with  pup.  Once  in  awhile  an 
old  bull  is  killed.  (Jack  Johnson.) 

A  large  proportion  of  seals  killed  by  me  were  cows  with  pup.  Have 
killed  a  very  few  old  bulls  and  some  yearlings.  (Johnnie  Johutiu.) 

Most  of  the  seal  I  have  taken  have  been  pregnant  cows.  But  a  very 
few  young  male  seal  are  taken  by  me  along  the  coast.  (P.  Kahiktday.) 

The  majority  of  seal  are  cows  with  pun.  A  few  males  are  taken, 
about  4  or  5  years  old.  (Philip  Kashevaroff.) 

About  half  of  the  seals  killed  are  females  with  pup.  Have  killed 
some  yearling  seals,  but  never  killed  any  old  bull.  The  young  males  I 
killed  were  between  2  and  3  years  old.  (Jim  Kasooh.) 

We  caught  somewhere  about  500  seals  before  entering  the  sea,  of  all 
kinds.  There  were  a  good  many  females  among  them;  there  was  a 
good  many  more  of  them  than  males,  but  the  exact  number  I  do  not 
know.  The  old  females  had  young  pups  in  them.  I  saw  them  taken 
out  and  a  good  many  of  them  skinned.  (James  Kean.) 


SEAL    LIFK    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

N\  e   sailed    from  \  ictoria.  British    Columbia,  and   bore  due  north   to 
lU'i'inii'  Sen.      When  we  arrived  there  we  had   some   7.~>   to  SO  seals,  the 
greater  part  <>f  \vhieh  were  females,  some  of  which   had   pups   in  them. 
. Ian.es  Kennedy. 

Mo>r  of  ih«'  seaN  taken  by  me  were  females  \viih  pup:  have  taken  a 
few  male  seals  from  1  lo  I  \ears  old.  A  very  few  yearlings  have  been 
killed  by  me.  mostly  females.  ,.Mike  !s.et  huxlurk. . 

Those  taken  in  i'.eiinu'  Sea  were  nearly  all  mother  seals,  in  milk,  that 
had  left  their  yoiin^  and  were  in  seareh  of  food,  i. lames  Kiernan.) 

Most    all   seals    killed    by    me    have   been    cows.  Have    not 

killed  a  bnli  seal  for  three  years.      1  have  taken  a  few  yearlings,  mostly 
females.      .'.John  K<>\\  ineet. ) 

All  the  seals  which  1  have  seen  killed  were  females,  and  the  majority 
of  the>e  were  pregnant  cows.  lOlaf  Kvam. 

Mo>t  all  seals  that  I  have  taken  were  cows  witli  pup.  A  few  male 
seals  have  been  taken  by  me  from  1  to  L*  years  old.  ((leor^e  Lacheek.) 

A  <^'ood  many  have  pups  in  them,  and  when  the  boats  come  aboard 
loaded  with  seals,  after  they  ^'ot  through  skinning  them  they  would 
have  a  \}\g  pile  of  pups  on  deck,  (.lames  Latlin.) 

We  had  a  »'ood  catch,  having  taken  1. 100  skins,  more  than  1 .000  of 
which  we  secured  on  the  coast.  Of  the  latter  more  than  7-">  per  cent- 
were  femah'  pelts,  and  of  tiiese  about  <)<>  ]>er  cent  were  taken  Iroin 
pregnant  cows.  .lames  I'..  Lennan.) 


Of  all  t  he  seals  captured  by  me  about  one- ha  If  of  them.  1  think,  were 
cows  with  pups  in  them,  and  it  is  very  seldom  that  I  have  ever  caught 
a  full  -.uTou  n  eow  that  was  barren  or  did  not  have  a  pup  in  her:  nor 
have  I.  in  my  Ion ^  experience,  caught  a  co\\  that  was  in  milk,  or  that 
had  recently  .u'iven  birth  to  her  youni^'.  i  seldom  ever  kill  an  old  bull, 
for  there  are  but  very  few  of  them  that  mingle  with  the  herd  along  the 
coast.  (.James  Lighthouse.) 

In  the  year  1<SS.">  tioo  fur  seals  were  caught  during  the  month  of  March 
off  the  I-'arallon  Islands  :(  California  ;.  In  subsequent  years  we  have  had 
to  go  farther  north  each  year  in  order  to  secure  a  good  spring  catch. 
My  experience  has  been  that  fully  t>0  per  cent  of  all  seals  taken  were 
females,  and  of  these  two  thirds  were  mothers  in  milk.  (  K.  W.  Little 
John.) 

1  know  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  seals  taken  were  mothers  in 
pup  or  mothers  giving  milk,  but  I  paid  no  particular  attention  to  the 
percentage.  (William  II.  Long.) 

On  my  last  trip  this  year,  when  hunting  seals  oil'  the  cape,  I  caught 
10  >eaN.  ."">  of  which  had  pups  in  them:  the  rest  of  them  were  from  1  to 
"2  years  old,  part  male  and  part  female.  I  think  that  fully  one-half  of 
the  seals  caught  along  the,  coast  are  full  grown  females  with  pups  ill 
them.  We  >ometimes  catch  a  few  medium  sized  males,  the  rest  being 
younger  ones,  both  male  and  female.  (Thomas  Lowe.) 

(t).  What  percentage  of  the  cows  von  have  taken  were  with  pup? — 
A.  About  70  percent,  I  should  say.  (Charles  Lutjens.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  were  females  with  pup.     A  few  male  seals  were 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  '297 


Uled,  ages  ranging  from!  to  r>  years.     One  old  bull  w:is  taken.     (George 
M<  Alpine.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  me  liave  been  females  with  pup.  The  female 
seals  are  easier  killed  than  the  male,  and  we  aim  to  get  them.  A  few 
yearlings  have  been  killed  by  me,  mostly  females.  (J.  I).  .McDonald.) 

Several  of  the  females  that  we  caught  in  the  ocean  were  in  pup,  but 
the  pup  taken  out  of  the  belly  was  of  no  use  for  anything,  and  we  would 
throw  it  overboard.  (William  Mclsaac.) 

We  had  :>oo  or  400  seals  altogether  before  entering  Bering  Sea. 
They  were  most  all  females,  which  had  young  pups  in  them.  (William 
McLaughlin.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  taken  are  with  pup  ? — A.  The  females 
are  mostly  all  with  pup — that  is,  up  until  the  1st  of  July.  (Daniel 
McLean.) 

We  came  down  each  year  to  the  coast  of  Oregon,  then  went  along  up 
the  coast  to  Bering  Sea.  I  do  not  recollect  the  exact  number  of  seals 
we  caught  in  188S,  18S<),  18VM),  but  last  year  we  caught  about  150  along 
the  coast.  I  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  the  sex  of  the  seals,  but  I 
seen  lots  of  little  pups  taken  out  of  them.  (Thomas  Madden.) 

We  sailed  up  the  coast  and  caught  a  few  seals  until  we  got  to  Bering 
Sea.  We  caught  1,100  seals,  nearly  all  of  which  were  caught  in  Ber- 
ing Sea.  We  caught  them  around  St.  George  Island.  I  think  out  of 
the  1,100  we  caught  there  were  600  females.  Out  of  that  600  there 
were  over  400  that  had  pups  inside  of  them,  and  we  threw  them  all 
overboard.  (James  Maloy.) 

About  half  of  the  seals  killed  by  me,  I  think,  were  cows  with  pup. 
Have  never  killed  an  old  bull,  but  have  killed  a  few  yearlings  in  my 
life.  Never  examined  the  latter  as  to  sex.  (Charles  Martin.) 

The  biggest  part  of  my  years  catch  off  the  coast  were  females  with 
pups  in  them.  (  Patrick  Maroiiey.) 

In  1S90  I  went  sealing  in  the  schooner  Argonaut.  She  sailed  from 
Victoria  about  the  8th  of  April,  and  sealed  along  the  coast  up  to  the 
pass  in  Bering  Sea.  We  caught  about  250  seals  that  year.  Most  of 
the  seals  we  caught  in  the  North  Pacific  were  females.  A  good  many 
of  them  also  had  pups  inside.  (Henry  Mason.) 

I  noticed  in  the  seals  that  we  caught  along  the  coast  that  a  great 
many  of  them  were  females  and  had  pups.  1  think  most  of  them  were 
females.  I  know  that  in  my  boat  the  catch  was  most  all  females  and 
they  had  pups  in  them.  They  were  usually  shot  when  sleeping  on  the 
water.  (William  Mason.) 

We  caught  over  1,000  seals  off  the  coast,  almost  all  females,  and  a 
great  number  of  them  had  pups  in  them.  *  *  *  Entered  Bering 
Sea  in  July  and  was  chased  out  by  the  cutters.  Did  not  catch  any 
seals  in  the  American  waters  in  Bering  Sea,  but  went  over  across  on 
the  Russian  side  and  sealed  there.  The  whole  catch  for  that  year  was 
about  1,500  seals.  Those  that  we  killed  on  the  Russian  side  were  about 
in  the  same  proportion  as  to  females  as  those  killed  on  this  side.  (Thor- 
wal  Mathasan.) 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  were  with  pup? — 
A.  About  75  per  cent  were  with  pup.  (Prank  Moreau.) 


298  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Most  all  the  seals  killed  by  me  have  been  females  with  pup.  (Amos 
Mill.) 

We  began  sealing  off  Cape  Flattery;  sailed  and  sealed  to  the  north- 
ward, and  captured  about  800  seals  along  the  coast.  There  were  not 
over  ten  males  in  the  whole  lot.  The  females  had  pups  in  them,  and 
we  cut  them  out  of  their  mothers  and  threw  them  overboard  into  the 
ocean.  (John  Morris.) 

About  half  of  the  seals  caught  along  the  coast  are  cows  with  pups  in 
them.  A  few  medium-sized  males  are  also  taken,  and  the  rest  are  young 
seals  of  both  sexes.  We  scarcely  ever  see  an  old  bull  seal,  nor  can  we 
tell  the  sex  of  the  seals  in  the  water.  I  have  never  caught  any  full- 
grown  cows  along  the  coast  that  did  not  have  pups  in  them.  (Moses.) 

About  half  the  seals  taken  by  me  are  cows  with  pup.  I  have  taken 
a  few  old  bulls  in  my  life,  but  not  many.  Have  taken  quite  a  number 
of  yearlings.  The  male  seals  taken  are  between  2  and  3  years. 
(Nashtau.) 

About  one-half  of  the  seals  I  have  taken  were  females  with  pup. 
Have  taken  a  very  few  yearlings.  Once  in  a  while  I  take  an  old  bull, 
but  not  often.  The  male  seals  that  I  have  killed  are  2  and  3  years  old, 
I  think.  (Dan  Nathlan.) 

Think  about  half  of  the  seals  taken  by  me  have  been  cows  with  pup. 
The  rest  are  yearlings  and  young  males  2  and  3  years  old.  Have  never 
seen  an  old  bull  in  my  life.  (Joseph  Neishkaitk.) 

Almost  every  female  that  has  arrived  at  the  age  of  maturity  is  preg- 
nant. We  follow  them  on  from  there  into  Bering  Sea,  and  almost  all 
the  females  taken  are  pregnant.  (Mies  Nelson.) 

We  sailed  south  as  far  as  Blanco,  sealing  around  there  for  two  or 
three  months,  when  we  headed  north  into  Bering  Sea,  having  caught 
250  or  300  seals  before  entering  the  sea,  of  which  60  per  cent  of  them 
were  females,  mostly  all  of  them  having  pups  in  them.  (John  O'Brien.) 

In  the  beginning  of  the  season  we  killed  mostly  yearling  seals,  but  as 
the  season  advanced  we  got  almost  all  mothers  in  young  in  the  vicinity 
of  Cape  Flattery  or  from  the  Columbia  liiver  to  Vancouver.  (Nelson 
T.  Oliver.) 

The  catch  along  the  coast  for  the  last  six  or  seven  years,  since  the 
rifle  and  shotgun  have  come  into  use,  is  principally  females,  and  the 
grown  ones  have  pups  in  them.  The  catch  of  young  seals  is  much  less 
in  proportion  to  the  number  caught  than  they  were  when  Indians  used 
to  take  them  by  spearing.  (William  Parker.) 

We  began  sealing  off  Cape  Flattery  and  sealed  right  up  toward  Be- 
ring Sea,  capturing  16  seals  along  the  coast,  all  of  which  were  females 
with  pup.  We  captured  250  females  with  pup  on  the  coast  and  then 
returned  to  Victoria,  after  which  we  sailed  again  in  a  short  time  on  the 
same  vessel  with  the  same  crew  for  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Be- 
ring Sea,  capturing  about  250  female  seals  while  en  route  to  Bering  Sea, 
also  a  few  male  yearlings.  (Charles  Peterson.) 

My  experience  in  four  years7  sealing  is  that  nearly  all  the  seals  taken 
along  the  coast  are  pregnant  females,  and  it  is  seldom  that  one  of  them 
is  caught  that  has  not  a  young  pup  in  her.  (Edwin  P.  Porter.) 

I  have  been  out  sealing  this  year  and  caught  16  seals;  5  of  them  were 
full-grown  cows  that  had  pups  in  them.  The  rest  were  young  seals 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  299 

ibout  "2  years  old,  both  male  and  female,  excepting-  one,  and  that  was 
a  gray  pup.     (Wilson  Porter.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  me  have  been  cows  with  pup.     (Rondtus.) 

The  majority  of  seals  taken  by  me  have  been  females  with  pup.  Once 
in  a  great  while  1  eatcli  an  old  bull.  A  few  yearlings  have  been  taken 
and  the  majority  of  males  are  1*  and  3  year  olds.  (Abel  Ryan.) 

While  cruising  along  the  coast  our  principal  catch  was  female  seals 
with  pup,  the  balance  being  principally  yearlings,  about  half  male  and 
female.  (William  Short.) 

We  had  315  skins  when  we  arrived  here.  Mostly  all  of  them  were 
females  heavy  with  pup  asleep  on  the  water,  and  we  killed  them  with 
shotguns.  (Peter  Simes.) 

Most  of  the  seal  taken  by  me  were  cows  with  pup.  (Aaron  Sim- 
son.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  are  cows  with  young.     (Jack  Sitka.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  me  are  females  with  pup.  Never  killed 
but  one  old  bull  in  my  life.  Have  killed  but  a  few  yearlings  and  never 
looked  to  see  if  they  were  male  or  female.  The  young  males  killed  by 
me  were  between  1  and  3  years  old.  (Thomas  Skowl.) 

I  think  .'{  females  with  pup  out  of  every  10  killed.  1  kill  lots  of 
yearlings,  but  never  examined  them  as  to  sex.  Never  shoot  any  old 
bulls,  although  I  have  seen  a  good  many.  (George  Skultka.) 

We  sailed  from  here  on  the  Flying  Mist  on  the  17th  day  of  April, 
1871,  and  caught  altogether  on  that  voyage  about  875  seals,  of  which  a 
large  majority  were  either  females  with  pups  or  with  their  breasts  full 
of  milk.  J  saw  it  flowing  on  the  deck  when  we  were  skinning  them. 
*  *  Went  to  Okhotsk  Sea  and  sealed  there  about  two  mouths. 
Wre  got  there  some  500  seals,  of  which  more  than  one  half  were  females, 
and  the  most  of  them  had  pups  in  them.  (James  Sloan.) 

1  am  informed  by  our  London  sales  agent,  and  believe,  that  nearly 
or  quite  nine-tenths  of  the  Victoria  catch  is  composed  of  females. 
(Leon  Sloss.) 

A  very  large  majority  of  the  seal  taken  in  the  North  Pacific  are  cows 
with  pup.  (Fred  Smith.) 

We  left  San  Francisco  in  February,  and  fished  all  the  way  up  to 
Ivadiak  Island.  We  caught  about  475  seals  and  about  40  otters.  To 
the  best  of  my  judgment,  the  greatest  portion  of  these  were  cows  heavy 
with  young.  We  could  see  the  milk  running  out  of  their  teats  when 
they  were  skinned.  1  saw  pups  inside  of  the  seals  that  we  cut,  and  we 
saved  some  of  them  and  fed  them."  (E.  W.  Soron.) 

We  left  here  with  the  City  of  Mm  />ieyo  in  February,  1888,  and  arrived 
in  Bering  Sea  in  June,  1888.  As  soon  as  we  got  into  the  ocean  we 
commenced  shooting  seals  and  continued  shooting  all  the  way  up  to  the 
Aleutian  Islands.  The  seals  became  more  plentiful  as  we  were  going 
north.  We  caught  about  650  during  that  voyage.  We  killed  a  portion 
in  Bering  Sea.  We  killed  1  large  bull  that  I  recollect,  and  the  rest 
were  nearly  all  females  with  pup,  or  mothers  giving  milk.  (Cyrus 
Stephens.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  are  females  with  pup.  Out  of  111  seals  last 
year  I  killed  but  3  bulls.  A  very  few  yearlings  have  been  taken  by  me. 


300  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

A  few  male  seal  have  been  taken  by  me  from  2  to  4  years  old.     (Joshua 
Stickland.) 

We  commenced  sealing  as  soon  as  we  got  outside  of  the  cape,  and 
captured  about  270  seals  along  up  the  coast.  Most  of  the  seals  caught 
were  pregnant  females,  and  when  we  would  skin  them  the  milk  would 
run  out  of  them  on  the  deck.  We  began  sealing  off  the  Columbia  Elver 
and  then  sealed  northward  up  the  coast  to  Bering  Sea,  and  captured 
about  320  seals  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  mostly  all  females,  and  nearly 
all  had  young  pups  in  them.  (John  A.  Swain.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  me  were  cows  with  pup.  *  *  *  A  few 
male  seal  have  been  taken  from  1  to  4  years  old.  But  very  few  old 
bulls  have  ever  been  taken  by  me.  Have  killed  a  few  yearlings  every 
year.  (M.  Thlkahdaynakkee.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  on  this  coast  are  cows  with  young.  Quite 
a  large  number  of  yearlings  are  taken,  most  of  which  are  females. 
(Charlie  Tlaksatau'.) 

Most  of  the  seal  taken  by  me  have  been  females  with  pup.  A  few 
male  seals  have  been  taken  by  me,  ages  ranging  from  1  to  4  years,  1 
should  think.  Some  yearlings  have  been  taken,  a  majority  of  which 
were  females  also.  Very  few  old  bulls  have  been  killed  by  me.  (James 
Unatajim.) 

Most  of  the  seals  taken  have  been  cows  with  pup.  I  have  taken  but 
a  very  few  old  bulls.  I  have  killed  plenty  of  young  males,  and  have 
taken  quite  a  number  of  yearlings,  but  never  examined  them  as  to  sex. 
(George  Usher.) 

The  majority  of  seal  taken  are  cows.  A  few  yearlings  are  killed, 
mostly  females.  (Rudolph  Walton.) 

In  purchasing  fur  seals  from  hunters  I  have  noticed  that  not  less  than 
75  per  cent  of  the  catch  taken  previous  to  May  25  are  female  seals,  and 
from  the  development  of  the  teat  on  the  skin  were  evidently  females 
with  pup.  After  that  the  catch  is  mostly  young  seals,  and  1  paid  no 
attention  to  the  sex.  (M.  L.  Washburn.) 

Most  of  the  seals  captured  along  the  coast  are  cows  with  pups  in 
them.  I  have  never  captured  any  cows  in  milk  or  that  had  given 
birth  to  their  young  that  year  on  the  coast,  and  1  do  not  recollect  of 
ever  having  caught  an  old  bull.  (Watkins.) 

Out  of  50  seals  taken  so  far  this  season  46  are  females  with  pup  and 
4  are  males.  Only  one  yearling  seal  has  been  taken  this  season  among 
the  males.  1  should  think  the  male  seals  taken  this  year  were  between 
2  and  3  years  old.  (P.  S.  Weittenhiller.) 

While  out  hunting  this  year  we  caught  16  seals;  one-half  of  them 
were  cows  with  pup,  the  remainder  were  yearlings  and  2-year-olds  of 
both  sexes.  (Charley  White.) 

In  my  captures  off  the  coast  between  here  and  Sitka  1M)  per  cent  of 
my  catch  were  females,  but  off  the  coast  of  Uiiimak  Pass  there  was  a 
somewhat  smaller  percentage  of  females,  and  nearly  all  the  females 
were  cows  heavy  with  pup,  and  in  some  instances  the  time  of  delivery 
was  so  near  at  hand  that  I  have  frequently  taken  the  live  pup  from  the 
mother's  womb.  (Michael  White.) 

I  think  about  one-half  the  seals  killed  by  me  have  been  females  with 
pup,  and  the  balance  were  divided  up  between  yearlings  and  1  and  2 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  301 


year  old  males.    Never  examined  th«  yearlings  as  to  sex;  have  never 
killed  an  old  bull  in  my  life.     (Billy  Williams.) 

Think  that  most  of  the  seals  I  have  taken  were  females  with  pup- 
Have  also  taken,  some  2  and  .'>  year  old  males  and  some  yearlings. 
Never  killed  but  one  old  bull  in  my  life.  (Fred  Wilson.) 

Most  all  the  seals  caught  by  me  along  the  coast  were  cows  that  had 
pups  in  them.  I  never  killed  a  barren  cow  or  one  that  was  in  milk. 
(Wispoo.) 

About  half  the  seals  I  have  killed  were  females  with  pup,  and  the 
balance  were  yearling  seals  and  2  and  .'>  year  old  males.  Never  killed 
an  old  bull  in  my  life,  nor  have  I  ever  seen  one.  (Billy  Yeltachy.) 

Some  years  ago  there  were  more  male  seals  taken  than  are  taken 
now,  but  now  about  one-half  are  females  with  pup.  The  rest  are  year- 
ling seals  and  1  and  2  year  old  males.  1  have  never  examined  the 
yearling  seal  to  ascertain  their  sex.  Have  not  killed  any  old  bull  seal 
for  a  number  of  years,  but  used  to  kill  them.  (Yethnow.) 

Most  of  the  seals  I  have  killed  were  females  with  pup.  Once  in  a 
while  an  old  bull  is  taken.  (Paul  Young.) 

1  have  been  out  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  this  year  seal  hunting  and 
caught  three  seals.  They  were  large  cow  seals,  and  had  pups  in  them. 
One  and  2  year  old  seals  are  about  equally  male  and  female.  (Hish 
Yulla,) 

Almost  half  the  seals  I  now  catch  are  cow  seals,  and  have  little  pups 
in  them.  (Hish  Yulla.) 

About  one-third  of  all  the  cows  I  caught  along  the  coast  were  cows 
with  pups  in  them;  never  caught  any  old  bulls,  and  used  to  catch  more 
gray  pups  than  I  do  now.  Most  all  the  rest  of  the  seals  I  caught  have 
been  1  and  2  years  old,  and  are  about  equally  male  and  female.  (Thos. 
Zolnoks.) 


OFFICE  SPECIAL  AGENT  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

Washington,  D.  (7.,  December  30,  1892. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  hand  you  herewith  a  series  of  tables  setting 
forth  the  number  of  fur  seals  killed  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  for  all 
causes  whatsoever,  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company — that  is,  from  1870  to  1889,  both  inclusive. 

These  tables  have  been  compiled  by  me  with  great  care  from  the  offi- 
cial records  of  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  are  correct,  careful  compari- 
sons having  been  made.  They  include  every  seal  killed  from  any  cause, 
intentional  or  accidental,  incident  to  the  taking  of  seal  skins  on  the 
islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George. 

JOSEPH  MURRAY, 
First  Assistant  Special  Agent. 
Hon.  CHARLES  FOSTER, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


302 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Tables  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  f*om 
1870  to  1SS9,  both  inclusive. 

NOTE.— There  is  a  misapprehension  in  regard  to  the  names  of  the  several  rookeries  and  hauling 
grounds,  and  they  are  often  confounded  by  people  who  are  not  thoroughly  acquainted  with  them. 
Zoltoi  and  Garbotch.  are  local  subdivisions  ot  the  Reef  Rookery  and  are  treated  as  rookeries  by  some 
of  the  Treasury  agents,  while  others  ignore  them  altogether.  Zapadnie  and  Southwest  Bay  are  one. 
Polivina  and  Halfway  Point  are  one;  some  men  using  the  Russian  while  others  use  the  English  names. 
English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill  are  separate  and  distinct  rookeries,  and  yet  they  are  often  spoken  of  as 
though  they  were  one.  Near  is  a  local  subdivision  of  North  Rookery.  Little  East  is  a  subdivision 
of  East  Rookery.  Sea  Lion  Rock,  Southwest  Point,  and  Rocky  Point  are  neither  rookeries  nor  haul- 
ing grounds  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term ;  the  seals  come  and  go  at  will,  for  it  is  only  under  the  most 
favorable  conditions  of  wind  and  water  they  can  be  reached,  and  it  is  but  seldom  there  are  mauy  of 
them.  By  keeping  these  facts  in  mind  it  will  be  seen  that  seals  were  driven  from  all  of  the  hauling 
grounds  on  both  islands  from  1870  to  date. 

ST.  PAUL  ISLAND. 
INo  record  of  daily  killings  for  1870. J 


Date.                          Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

2,992 
30 
729 
647 

3,877 

1870  

1871. 
May  16 
J   24 
June    1 
2 
6 
8 
10 
14 
15 
16 
20 
22 
23 
24 
24 
29 
28 
July     1 

6 
7 
8 
18 
21 
22 
22 
24 
26 
28 
28 
31 
A.g.11 

24 
29 
Sept.    4 
11 
18 
26 
29 
Oct      2 
9 
10 
13 
14 
16 
17 
17 
19 
21 
21 
25 
27 
28 
28 

Not  indicated  in  the  records  of 
this  vear  

15,  314 

186 
246 
579 
222 
917 
1,682 
2,701 
874 
1,167 
1,  39  J» 
1,971 
1,283 
518 
796 
2,654 
1,014 
2,401 
1,  133 
2,038 
3,623 
1,189 
756 
1,040 
1,  940 
801 
3,404 
1,179 
1,807 
1,418 
2,845 
657 
205 
150 
118 
60 
193 
178 
105 
77 
130 
1,250 
1,308 
5,083 
896 
506 
633  i 
683 
1,158 
3,150 
3,666 
2,181 
2,142 
3,042 
679 
495 

1871. 
Oct.    30 
31 
Nov.    7 
Dec.   19 
19 

1872. 

May}i 

24 
June    1 
3 
5 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
17 
19 
20 
21 
22 
24 
27 
28 
29 
July     1 

6 
9 
12 
13 
16 
17 
19 

22 
24 
25 
30 
Aug.    1 
6 
9 
13 
17 
20 
29 
Sept.    7 
12 
20 
Oct.      3 
3 
10 
21 

Tolstoi 

Eno-lish  Bay 

Tolstoi  

Reef  

do 

Reef 

do 

Tolstoi 

Total 

Reef 

81,  803 

5 
227 
455 
759 
278 
293 
209 
1,616 
662 
1,  057 
1,730 
4,714 
395 
2,  828 
1,169 
1,705 
5,547 
910 
4,618 
6,427 
1,151 
1.841 
3,265 
6,765 
3,139 
2,071 
2,329 
1,116 
1,664 

7,388 
1,384 
2,080 
638 
34 
10 
119 
7 
90 
3 
114 
161 
99 
122 
118 
93 
490 
127 
91 

do              

Northeast  Point 

English  Bay  

Southwest  Bay 

Zoltoi  

Reef 

Zoltoi  and  English  Bay  
Zoltoi               

do     . 

do 

Southwest  Bay  

Tolstoi       ...           

Lukannoii 

Reef 

Zoltoi  

Tolstoi  and  English  Bay  

Reef 

Northeast  Point      

Zoltoi  and  Reef 

Zoltoi  and  Reef 

Tolstoi  and  English  Bay 

Tolstoi  and  English  Bay  

do 

Lukannon.  

Reef  and  Northeast  Point  
Zoltoi 

Northeast  Point  

Lukannon  and  Zoltoi  

English  Bay             

Reef 

Reef 

Lukannon  

Zoltoi 

Northeast  Point  and  Ketova  .  .  . 
Reef  and  Zoltoi 

English  Bay  
Ketova  

English  Bay  
Tolstoi  and  Northeast  Point  

Northeast  Point 

Zoltoi  and  Lukannon 

Zoltoi 

Tolstoi  

English  Bay                            

Northeast  Point 

Zoltoi  and  Northeast  Point  
English  Bay                     

Lukannon     

Zoltoi 

.  .do 

English  Bay                               ... 

do 

Zoltoi 

Ketova 

Halfway  Point 

Lukannon  

English   Bay,   Lukannon,  and 
Northeast  Point 

Zoltoi 

Ketova  

Zoltoi  

do 

English  Bay 

Tolstoi    

Zoltoi 

Ketova 

do 

Halfway  Point     

Northeast  Point 

Ketova 

Zoltoi 

Tolstoi  .  . 

Northeast  Point               

Reef 

Tolstoi 

Northeast  Point  

Northeast  Point         

Ketova 

Zoltoi 

Reef    . 

Lukannon     .        

Tolstoi 

Zoltoi 

English  Bay 

do                            

Northeast  Point 

do 

do     . 

English  Bay                   

do 

Zoltoi 

..do. 

do                  

...do... 

Ketova  .  .  . 

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


303 


Tables  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  Heals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  1'ribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 
1870  to  1889,  both  inrliwive — Continued. 


ST.  PAUL  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 

)  »O8<*8. 

1872. 
Opt      2() 

1  284 

1874. 
June    3 

Southwest  Bay  

2,  395 

Nov    '") 

Tolstoi 

753 

3 

Kerf          

538 

90 

724 

4 

Tolstoi  and   English  Bay  

556 

30 

1  286 

6 

Northeast  Point  

4  062 

Dec      r» 

Reef 

112 

8 

Keef  and  Zoltoi  

639 

6 

Zoltoi                                -          -   • 

426 

Southwest  Bay  and  English  Bay 

1.898 

Nov         ' 

5  121 

lo 

Tolstoi    

634 

11 

Keef  and  Garbotch 

540 

Total                     

81,819 

13 

Southwest  Bav  and  English  Bay 

1.982 

13 

Tolstoi 

622 

1873 

11 

Northeast  Point 

4  737 

May  93 

Keef 

193 

15 

Reef  and  Zoltoi  

891 

23 

104 

17 

English  Bay  and  Tolstoi  

2.689 

Keef'ind  Tolstoi 

803 

17 

/oltoi         '                     

474 

4 

703 

19 

Southwest  and  English  bays  .  .  . 

3,419 

6 

Ret-  fund  Tolstoi 

920 

20 

Zoltoi  and  Lukaunon  

3,033 

10 

2  597 

20 

Northeast  Point 

7  217 

]1 

1  666 

23 

Zoltoi  and  Lukannon  

3  982 

13 

2  029 

25 

3  270 

13 

\ortheast  Point 

3  243 

26 

Reef  and  Zoltoi                 

1  921 

16 

1,770 

27 

Ketova  and  Lukaunon  

1,321 

16 

677 

27 

Northeast  Point 

8  172 

16 

Keef 

465 

30 

Zoltoi  and  Tolstoi     .  .            .     . 

1  212 

18 
21 

Southwest  Bay  and  English  Bay 
Zoltoi 

3,946 
652 

July     1 

English  Bay  and  Tolstoi  
Reef,  Tolstoi,  and  Lukannon  .  .  . 

2,209 
2,621 

21 

Northeast  Point 

3  412 

3 

Tolstoi       .     .           .          

1  538 

23 

Tolstoi  ami  English  Bay 

1,803 

4 

Lukannon  

538 

24 

English  Bay 

.']  159 

4 

/oltoi 

3  014 

26 

2,210 

6 

English  Bay           

1  564 

27 

Zoltoi  and  Lukannon  

1,147 

8 

English  Bay  and  Tolstoi  

2,702 

27 

5  090 

9 

Zoltoi 

1  987 

30 

Tolstoi 

1,848 

Tolstoi  and  Lukannon        

1  580 

July     1 

2  337 

10 

Zoltoi 

432 

2 

Tolstoi 

l'  938 

10 

Northeast  Point 

3  367 

3 

Zoltoi 

2,212 

13 

Tolstoi  and  Lukannon  

1  664 

5 

do  

710 

14 

En  glis  h  Bay  

9  169 

g 

Zoltoi  and  Tolstoi 

1  510 

15 

Zoltoi 

475 

9 

do                              

2  494 

16 

Lukaunon  and  Ketova  ... 

1  099 

9 

6  ">78 

16 

Zoltoi 

668 

14 

Tolstoi 

925 

17 

Lukannon 

533 

15 

Zoltoi    .    . 

1,248 

17 

Northeast  Point  

4  004 

16 

do 

1  547 

23 

Tolstoi 

130 

17 

English  Bay 

1.561 

28 

Zoltoi 

167 

18 

Zoltoi  

929 

Aug.    3 

....  do  

112 

19 

Lukannon   Ketova  and  Zoltoi 

1  047 

10 

do 

107 

19 

Northeast  Point     

5,696 

17 

.do 

131 

21 

English  Bay 

754 

26 

do 

89 

22 

!.uk;i  niioii  and  Ketova 

1,979 

31 

do 

201 

22 

....  do     

446 

Sept.    7 

..  do 

197 

24 

Northeast  Point 

2  727 

16 

do 

163 

Aug.    4 

Zoltoi    . 

179 

25 

do 

174 

13 

do 

168 

Oct       1 

do 

179 

20 

do 

95 

19 

Reef 

175 

20 

Lukannon  

155 

29 

dot 

236 

Sept.    1 

Zoltoi 

119 

Nov 

4  897 

..do     . 

109 

Dec.   17 

Reef 

1  541 

29 

do  

122 

30 

Southwest  Bay 

10 

Total     " 

98  139 

Oct      8 

Ketova 

104 

16 

do 

80 

1875 

21 

Zoltoi             

154 

Jan       1 

Northeast  Point 

25 

Nov.  — 

5,489 

Feb.   10 

..  .  do 

Q 

Dec.     9 

Reef      

231 

16 

do 

9 

30 

Garbotch  

267 

17 

do 

16 

Mav     7 

Southwest  Bay 

498 

Total  

81,  987 

5  10 

Northeast  Point 

9 

14 

do     . 

20 

1874. 

18 

Reef  

143 

Apr.  27 

10 

24 

do 

657 

May     6 

Southwest  Bay  

404 

31 

do  

492 

19 

Reef 

340 

1   201 

25 

.    do 

301 

1 

TM"  t       a^  a            w        y 

203 

30 

do  

217 

5 

Zoltoi  and  Tolstoi... 

692 

304  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIIULOF    ISLANDS. 

Table*  shoiriinj  hi  detail  all  killiny  of  fur  seal*,  for  u-hatxoerer  purpose,  on  the  Prilnlof 
Island*  durinji  the  tirm  of  (lie  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,   from 

1^'7"  f<>  />>,'/.  both  incluyice — Continued. 


ST.  PAUL    ISI.AXl)     <  ontinued. 


Date. 

1875. 
Jmir    7 

10 

12 
12 

14 

Iti 

18 
19 
19 

24 

Pookery. 

Xoltoi  .in.l  Kerf  

Sollt  ll  \\  rst  Pav  

Northeast  Point 

Total 
killrd 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

711 

o::i 

4.  U05 

7:19 

2   115 
452 

1.  150 

202 

4.  047 
P527 

.">.  024 

1  ,  505 
1.810 
74  s 
2.  700 

Date.                              Uookery. 

1876. 
Jim.-  "(i      Xoltoi 

Total 
killed 
tor  all 
pur- 
poses. 

862 
3,  017 
1,442 
1  1  ,  495 
2.  644 
2,  840 
2.  207 
2,126 
2.  116 
2.  039 
1,974 
53 
1,040 

120 
134 
215 
179 
130 
133 
146 
133 
136 
120 
163 
636 
665 
J,  958 
825 

28      Kipjish  Hill  .  . 
•"•      Xoltoi 

Kn-lish  P.a\,  Southwrst  Pay, 
Pret  and  '  Xo'ltoi!  ."  .\  !".".'."."."!" 

Tolstoi  and  Fnulish  Pav  
Halfway  Point  '.  
Tolstoi  and  r.-rl'  

Southwest  Bay.  English  Pay.  . 

Northrasi   Point.  . 
Tolstoi  

Xolloi  

Fn-lish  Bay  
Lukaunon.'  

•  July      1       lolstoi  and  Northeast    Point... 
4      Tolstoi  and  Ketova  

l.ukannon  
s      Nor  i  h.-ast    Point  

10        Xoltoi  

Pi      F.n-lish  Hill  

22      Xoltoi 

L".t     do  

An;:.      1       l.ukannon  and  Xoltoi  
17        Ketovt 

11       K.-tova""! 
19      Xoltoi  

28                  do 

July 

An-. 
Sept. 

Oft 

Nov. 
De.. 

IK7f 
Jan. 

30 

6 

0 
10 
10 
13 

14 

16 
16 

17 

4 
14 

21 

12 
21 

17 

Soiithw.-st  Pav  
Prrf  '  

Xohoi  and  F.n-lish  Pav  
Lukuniioi).  Ketova,  Xoltoi  
Nort  hrast  Point  
Xoltoi  and  Lukaiinon  
Fn-'lish  Pax- 

Ocr.       (!    do 
14              do 

18    do... 
'11       Tolstoi 

No\.   24      Soulhwi-st   Pay  
Pups  k  illrd  for  food 

Tolstoi  and'  Fniilish  Bay  
l.okannon  and  K.-lova  
Not  t  ln-ast  Point  

Xolloi  

Der.    15      Tolstoi...  
Total  

1877. 
May    •<"'      Reef 

83,  157 

342 
548 
799 
1,705 
449 
1,  095 
1.647 
1,507 
1,094 
1,013 
1,458 
1,631 
1,  172 
1,224 
5,  965 
1  ,  050 
1,  250 
430 
2.  020 
1,401 
2,  106 
1,917 
6,  449 
1,849 
1,534 

2,  275 
1.  113 
5,  600 
495 
2.  086 
2,  172 
1,066 
75 
105 
172 
190 
200 
196 
171 
103 

l.ukannon  and  Ketova  
KiiL'lish  Pay  

Northeast    Point  
Xoltoi  
....   do  

do.  

K.-to\a  

7,4:',9 

159 
235 
192 
159 
210 
143 
140 

115 

172 
1  ,  990 
24 

15 
094 

June     4     do  
5      Soul  h  west  and  Kiiulish  Bay.-.. 

P'        Prrf 

13       Halfway    Point  

14      Fu<:lish  Bav  and  Southwest  Bav 

...do... 
do 

10      Xoltoi 

do 

18              do 

do  

do 

19      Tolstoi  

Tolstoi  

21       l.ukannon                        

22       Halfway    Point  

4 
12 

Tups  killed  lo'r  food 

23      Northeast  Point  

"3      Tolstoi 

Northeast  Point  
Tolstoi..  

Total  
ToNtoi  -.- 

"0      Halfwav   Point 

''8      Xolloi  and  l.ukannon 

94.  900 

914 

1S9 

073 
408 

184 

1  .  5  .-5 
808 

1.  ,".09 
2.  fill 
3,  120 

180 
P).  690 

3d      Tolstoi    
30       Northeast    Point  

Junr 

31 

c, 

H 
lo 
1  I 
1  ; 
I 

, 
0 

1 

; 

Pr,f  '  

Prrf  and   Xoltoi  .  . 
Tol-toi                        
Sou  t  h  \\  r-t   I'.av 

July      1      Xoltoi  

3      Tolstoi  and  Pukaimon  

4      Tol-toi  -mil   Fn"lisli  Piv 

0       Pukannonand  Ketova.'  
7       Xoltoi   

Xoltoi  '  

Northrasi  Point  

Xolloi  

Halfwa\  Point  
'lolstoi.  Xoltoi.  Prrf  

North.  -asl    Point    .. 
Xoltoi                              
ToUtoi  

Xoltoi  . 

Kn-lish      Pa\     and     Northr.^t 
Point... 

'1       Xolloi 

In       Tolstoi     . 
10      Northrast    Point  
14       Xolloi  

Ail",     i;    ....    ,1,,  . 
11     .    ...do 

3ii    do  
Sept.    12     do  ...                            

21               do 

29     .    .    .do... 

SEAL   LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


305 


Tables  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  veals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 
1870  to  18S9,  both  inclusive — Continued. 

ST.  PAUL  ISLAND-Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 

killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1877. 
Oct.      6 
16 
24 
Nov.     7 
9 
12 
19 
27 
29 
Dec.  20 

1878. 
May   19 
30 
June    8 
11 
12 
13 

14 

15 
17 
18 

19 
20 
21 

22 
22 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
29 
July     1 

! 
J 

6 
6 
8 

9 
10 
10 
12 
13 
16 
17 
18 
18 

Aug.  10 
22 
Sept.    2 
14 
24 
Oct.      2 
10 
Nov.     1 
4 
6 
8 
26 
28 
Aug.  to? 
Dec.    ^ 

Zoltoi 

171 
157 
146 
2,715 
1,  535 
757 
222 
1,259 
383 
20 

1879. 
May  19 
26 
June    2 

7 

9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 
28 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
30 
July    1 
2 
I 

i 

June  30 

2 
d 
July    4 

8 
9 

'? 

8 
9 
10 
14 
15 
16 
16 
25 
Aug.    2 
2 
11 
20 
27 
28 
Sept.    5 

9 
18 
18 
18 
18 
29 
29 
29 
Oct.    7 

Southwest  and  English  bays.  .  . 
Reef 

278 
525 
162 

1,627 
434 
1,188 
1,462 
498 
730 
997 
522 
1,331 
914 
1,110 
1,176 
1,053 
1,528 
966 
1,860 
1,745 
1,289 
2,300 
1,822 
1,995 

1,542 
1,940 
1,206 
1,550 
1,414 
1,339 
1,074 
1,665 
2,617 
?  148 
1,885 

do 

do 

do                      

/oltoi  and  Ketova 

English  and  Southwest  bays, 
Tolstoi 

Zolto^  and  Reef 

Reef  

Tolstoi 

Halfway  Point 

do 

Southwest  and  English  bays  .  .  . 
Tolstoi  

do 

Reef  Zoltoi  Ketova 

Total 

Southwest  Bay  and  Middle  Hill. 
Halfway  Point 

67,  810 

Southwest  Bay  and  Middle  Hill. 
Reef,  Ketova,  Zoltoi  

206 
703 
857 
2,409 
556 

1,099 
887 
1,283 
1,501 

2,278 
998 
1,731 

1,457 
1.309 
5,900 
1,  473 
1,552 
1,896 
2,672 
1,661 
1,131 
6,375 
2,237 
3,903 
791 
2.010 
2,622 
1,OS6 
7,231 

1,369 
916 
2,288 
3,  322 
3,600 
2,101 
1,986 
2,337 
1,549 
272 
404 
294 
173 
211 
156 
144 
148 
149 
1,380 
2,000 
1,255 
571 
1,144 
853 

133 

Southwest  Bay  

Southwest  Bayiand  English  Bay  . 

Reef  

Tolstoi  and  Middle  Hill  

Tolstoi  and  English  Bay  
Reef  and  Zoltoi.  

Reet,  Ketova,  Lukannon  
Northeast  Point  

Southwest    J'.av    and    English 
Bay  

do  
do  
do  

Tolstoi  
Ketova,  Reef,  Zoltoi  

do  

Tolstoi  and  Middle  Hill  

Southwest  Bay  and  English 

Southwest  and  English  bays..  . 
Reef,  Zoltoi,  Ketova  

Lukannon,  Ketova,  Zoltoi  
Tolstoi 

Tolstoi,  Middle  Hill,   English 
Bay,  Zoltoi  

Southwest    Bay    and    English 
Hay  

Halfway  Point  
Ketova,  Reef.  Lukannou,  Zoltoi 

Zoltoi,  Lukannon,  Ketova  

do  

Halfway  Point  

do  
do                    

Tolstoi  

English  HJIV  
Zoiioi  and  Ketova  
Tolstoi  

do  

Tolstoi  and  Middle  Hill  
English  Bay  
Lukannon  and  Zoltoi  

Northeast  Point  
I  lalfwii  v  Point  
Zoltoi  and  Ketova  
L  u  kaiinon  
Zoltoi  
Tolstoi 

Zoltoi  and  Middle  Hill  
English  Bav  
Lukannon  and  Ketova  
Northeast  Point  
do  
do  

1,  932 
2,106 
1,168 
2,524 
1,628 
866 
1,988 
2,077 
1,528 
1,920 
983 
948 
2,418 
1,264 
1,519 
398 
2,  652 
1,233 
2,882 
157 
278 
13 
273 
195 
206 
18 
203 
1 
184 
16 
174 
2 
5 
4 
198 
8 
7 
109 

Zoltoi  and  Ketova  
Northeast  Point  
Halfway      Point,     Lukannon, 
Ketova  
Zoltoi  
do  
XOIM  lu-ast  Point  
Tolstoi  and  Middle  Hill  

do  
do  

Zoltoi  and  Middle  Hill  
Zoltoi,  Ketova,  Lukannon  
Zoltoi  and  Ketova  
do  
Northeast  Point  
do  

Zoltoi  
Middle  Hill  
Zoltoi  
do  
Lukannon  
Zoltoi  
do  
do  
do  
do  
Lukanuon  

do  
do  
Zoltoi...  
Zoltoi  and  Ketova  
Middle  Hill,  Lukannon,  Tolstoi 
do  
Zoltoi  
Northeast  Point  
Zoltoi  
do  
do  

do  
do  
do  
do  
Reef  
do  
Tolstoi  and  Reef  
do... 

Zoltoi  
Southwest  Bay  
Zoltoi  
Northeast  Point  
Zoltoi  
Halfwav  Point  
Southwest  Bay  

Northeast  Point  (watchmen)  .  .  . 
Total  

Northeast  Point  
Zoltoi 

Southwest  Bay 

88,  519 

Northeast  Point  

Ketova  

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 20 


306 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Tables  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company— that  is,  from 
1870  to  1889,  both  inclusive — Continued. 

ST.  PAUL  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Total 
killed 
Rookery.                       for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1879. 
Oct.    20 
29 
30 
31 
31 
Nov.    3 
3 
5 
5 
10 
13 
27 
Dec.     6 
10 
26 
26 

1880. 
May  14 
22 
22 
June    1 
8 
9 
11 
12 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 

18 

21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 

2H 
26$ 

28 
29 
30 
July    1 

3 
3 
5 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
5-10 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
28 
30 
31 
Aug.  11 
19 
28 
Sept.J 

30 

Lukannon                     

263 

544 
H35 
999 
107 
1,153 
31 
1,466 
79 
356 
260 
172 
1,206 
1,308 
62 
5 

1880. 
Oct.    12 
25 
Nov.   2,( 
3,5,6^ 
Dec.     6 
9 
24 
Nov.  11 
29 

1881. 
Jan.  1-3 
May     4 

14 

29 
June    6 

7 

9 
10 
14 
15 

16 
17 
18 
20 
21 

22 

23 
24 

25 
27 
28 
29 
30 
July     1 
4 

5 
6 

7 
8 
9 

12 
13 
14 
15 

16 
18 
19 
20 

260 
193 

4,410 

1,176 
13 
82 
270 
270 

do  

English  Bay 

do  

Ketova           

Lukannon,  Reef,  Ketova  
Reef 

do 

Lukannon              

Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point 

Garbotch                    

Middle  Fill 

do 

English  Bay 

do 

Total           

Reef 

84,779 

do                                             : 

Garbotch          

1,058 

8 
3 
165 
423 

1,250 
127 
474 
196 

2,387 
724 
539 
1,229 
1,614 

4,103 

3,649 
1,164 

3,082 
1,275 
2,043 
3,318 
2,967 

4,596 
3,358 
943 

3,758 
1,949 

4,853 
3,421 
2,269 

2,631 
3,075 
1,782 
1,473 

3,561 
727 
2,456 
2,801 
2,536 

Reef 

Northeast  Point 

Additional  skins  found  on  re- 
count    

Southwest  Bay  

Total          

Additional  skins  found  in  salt.. 
Reef  

88,  221 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

209 
225 
19 
216 
1,497 
926 
889 
763 
1,204 
765 
990 
18 
1,619 
802 

5,279 

1,459 
1,035 
1,702 
1,437 
2,582 
1,062 

6,202 

1,516 
1,743 
2,297 
1,622 
2,374 
1,386 
7,167 
789 
651 
1,577 
1,654 
2,221 
1,428 
1,221 
7,073 
817 
1,763 
2,640 
1,834 
2,461 
534 
43 
228 
218 
253 
160 
189 
195 
239 
227 

Southwest    and  English  bays, 
Tolstoi 

Reef 

Zoltoi       ... 

Reef 

Zoltoi 

Southwest  Bay            ... 

Southwest  and  English  bays, 
Tolstoi 

Reef 

Zoltoi,  Reef,  Lukannon  

Southwest  and  English  bays... 

Halfway  Point 

Tolstoi       

Reef  and  Zoltoi           

Zoltoi  and  Lukannon  

Zapadiiie  and  English  Bay  
Ketova,  Zoltoi  Reef 

Tolstoi,  Middle  Hill,  Northeast 
Point  

Tolstoi  and  English  Bay  

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi,  Northeast  Point  

English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill.  .  . 

Reef  and  Tolstoi  

Halfway  Point 

Halfway   Point,   Middle   Hill, 
English  Bay,  Tolstoi  
Middle  Hill,  Lukannon,  Zoltoi, 
Reef 

Ketova  Zoltoi  Reef 

Tolstoi  and  Middle  Hill 

Reef  Zoltoi  Ketova 

Middle  Hill,  English  Bay,  Tol- 
stoi, Northeast  Point  

English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill.  .  . 
Ketova  Zoltoi  Reef 

English  Bay,  Southwest  Bay, 
Northeast  Point  

Halfway  Point                  

Lukannon,     Zoltoi,   Northeast 
Point  

Ketova,"  Lukannon,  Zol  toi  ...... 

English     Bay,     Middle     Hill, 
Northeast  Point  

Tolstoi  and  Middle  Hill  
do      

English  Bay  and  Middle  HilL  .  . 
Ketova  Zoltoi  Reef  

Halfway  Point          

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi Northeast  Point    

Halfway  Point  

Zoltoi,  Ketova,  Northeast  Point 
Southwest  Bay,  English  Bay, 
Northeast  Point  

Tolstoi                          

Tolstoi  and  Lukannon  

Zoltoi,    Tolstoi,    Middle    Hill, 
Northeast  Point 

Zoltoi,  Reef,  Lukannon,  Ketova. 
Tolstoi,  Lukannon,  Middle  Hill 

Halfway    Point,    Northeast 
Point 

Northeast  Point  

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 

Zoltoi,  Ketova,  Lukannon  
Tolstoi  and  English  Bay 

Zoltoi  Tolstoi  Lukannon 

Reef,  Zoltoi,  Lukannon,  Ketova. 
English  Bay  
Middle  Hill  and  Lukannon  
Zoltoi                   

English  Bay  Middle  Hill 

English  and  Southwest  bays  .  .  . 
English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi, Zoltoi  Ketova,  Lukan- 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Zoltoi,    Ketova   (711),    North- 
east Point,  food  (16)  

Zoltoi 

do 

Middle    Hili,   Tolstoi,   Zoltoi, 

do 

do 

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi   

do 

do 

Tolstoi,  Zoltoi,  Ketova,  Lukan- 
non   

do... 

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


307 


Tables  shou-ing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 
1870  to  1889,  both  inclusive— Continued. 

ST.  PAUL  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 

killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1881. 
July  27 

Zoltoi 

202 

1882. 
July     8 

Halfway  Point  and  Northeast 

18-29 

Northeast  Point 

;jg 

Point 

2  454 

Aue     5 

Zoltoi  

L>24 

10 

Reef,     KetoAra,      Lukannon, 

10 

do 

276 

Northeast  Point  

3,291 

17 

Northeast  Point 

10 

12 

do 

2  833 

20 

do 

6 

13 

Southwest  Bay  and  Northeast 

26 

Zoltoi 

240 

Point 

3  420 

•>9 

7 

14 

English  Bay  Middle  Hill   Tol- 

Sent    6 

Zoltoi 

249 

stoi,  Northeast  Point  

3,087 

17 

Northeast  Point  

11 

17 

English    Bay,    Middle    Hill, 

19 

Zoltoi 

205 

Northeast  Point  

2,593 

28 

/oltoi  ('-"(J8)  Northeast  Point  (5) 

213 

18 

Zoltoi 

1  012 

Oct     10 

Zoltoi  C'll)  NOJ  theast  Point  (5) 

216 

19 

Zoltoi  Lukannon   Ketova 

1  276 

25 

Zoltoi  Northeast  Point 

227 

20 

Southwest  Bay     

727 

Nov      5 

Tolstoi 

209 

25 

Zoltoi 

204 

16 

"Middle  Hill 

683 

27 

Northeast  Point 

19 

17 

Tolstoi 

494 

Aug.    4 

Zoltoi  

252 

21 

Middle  Hill 

462 

14 

do 

226 

Dec      7 

1  022 

26 

do  

234 

9 

Reef 

1  294 

Sept     4 

do 

191 

15 

do 

237 

Total 

83  774 

27 

....  do  

227 

30 

Northeast  Point 

25 

1882 

Oct.      6 

Zoltoi 

201 

Jan    12 

Reef 

80 

17 

do  

261 

Feb      8 

do 

103 

30 

Reef 

166 

10 

do 

8 

30 

Northeast  Point.        .     

23 

May  22 

Tolstoi      

126 

Nov.  17 

Middle  Hill  and  Tolstoi  

248 

31 

Beef 

246 

28 

Reef 

383 

June    2 

Southwest    Bay,  Middle   Hill 

30 

Tolstoi  

429 

Tolstoi  

400 

Dec.     4 

Reef  

498 

7 

849 

6 

do 

388 

g 

Zoltoi  and  Reef                 

428 

12 

do  

400 

10 

Tolstoi  and  Reef 

488 

12 

Southwest  Bay  and  Northeast 

Total 

79,834 

Point  

2  223 

13 

217 

1883. 

13 

Northeast  Point 

366 

May   26 

Southwest  Bay  

230 

14 
16 

Southwest  Bay  and  Tolstoi  
Halfway  Point  Reef  Tolstoi 

803 
1  458 

June    4 

Southwest  and  English  hays, 
Tolstoi 

592 

17 

Southwest  Bay  and  Tolstoi 

1  070 

6 

Halfway  Point  

:!54 

19 

Ketova    Reef    Zoltoi    North- 

g 

Reef 

177 

east  Point 

1  829 

11 

Southwest    Bay    Middle  Hill 

20 

Southwest  Bay  and  Northeast 

Tolstoi  .'  

405 

3  069 

12 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

352 

21 

English  Bay    Tolstoi    North- 

13 

Halfway  Point                 

252 

east  Point  

1,617 

14 

Southwest  and  English  bay  s.  .  . 

490 

22 

K<  tova     Reef    Zoltoi     North- 

15 

English  Bay  and  Tolstoi 

440 

east  Point  

2  811 

16 

Reef  and  Zoltoi  

341 

23 

Halfway  Point  and  Northeast 

18 

Southwest  Bay  

417 

Point" 

2,528 

19 

English  Bay  Middle  Hill    Tol- 

24 

Middle  Hill,  Tolstoi,  Northeast 

stoi  

735 

Point 

1  560 

20 

908 

26 

Southwest  Bay  and  Northeast 

27 

Reef  and  Tolstoi 

972 

Point 

3  164 

22 

English  Bay  Middle  Hill    Tol- 

27 

English     Bay,     Middle    Hill, 
Northeast  Point    

3,226 

23 

stoi  .'  

Reef  Zoltoi,  Lukannon  

1,401 
1,078 

28 

Reef,  Tolstoi,  Northeast  Point. 

4,270 

18-23 

Northeast  Point  

3,279 

29 

Middle  Hill,  Tolstoi,  Northeast 
Point 

2  239 

25 

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 

BTOi 

1  428 

30 

Halfway     Point       Lukannon 

26 

838 

Northeast  Point  

2,469 

27 

Southwest  and  English  bays 

1,640 

July    1 

Northeast  Point  and  Reef  
Southwest  Bay  and  Northeast 
Point 

1,601 
3  805 

28 
29 

Zoltoi,  Tolstoi.  Reef,  Lukannon. 
English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Zol- 
toi 

1,612 
1  519 

4 

English    Bay,   Middle    Hill 

30 

Lukannon  Reef  Zoltoi 

1,191 

Northeast  Point  

2,575 

25-30 

Northeast  Point                 

5,012 

5 

Zoltoi  and  Northeast  Point 

3  034 

July     2 

Halfway  Point 

1  700 

6 

Middle  Hill,  Zoltoi,  Northeast 

Southwest  Bay 

2,151 

Point 

1  540 

4 

Middle  Hill  and  Tolstoi 

1  494 

7 

English   Bay     Middle   Hill 

5 

Zoltoi  and  Lukannon 

2,346 

Northeast  Point... 

2.673 

6 

Zoltoi.  Middle  Hill.  Tolstoi  .. 

1.755 

308 


SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Tables  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 
1870  to  1889,  both  inclunive— Continued. 


ST.  PAUL  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1883. 
July     7 

2-9 
10 

12 

13 
14 

16 
17 

18 
19 
Aug.    1 
10 
20 
Sept.    1 
12 
24 
Oct.     6 
20 
29 
Nov.    1 
2 
5 
15 
26 
27 
27 
Dec.   12 
19 

1884 
Jan.     2 

May  15 
21 
24 
27 
June    3 
5 

9 
10 
11 

12 
13 
14 
16 

17 

18 
19 
20 
21 
21 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 
27 
28 
30 
July    1 
2 
3 

4 

939 

1,164 
5,066 

1,923 

1,659 
2,444 

2,136 

2.060 
1,116 
1,876 
8,183 
191 
250 
102 
278 
123 
286 
200 
200 
1,  562 
336 
884 
119 
134 
155 
84 
66 
420 
421 

1884. 
July  1-4 

7 
8 
9 
10 

7-10 
12 

14 
15 
16 

17 

18 

14-18 
19 

21 

Aug.    1 
5 
12 
19 
26 
Sept.    2 
12 
19 
27 
Oct.      5 
14 
22 
30 
Nov.    3 
5 
10 
24 
Dec.     5 
6 
24 

1885. 
May   19 

June    3 
6 
11 
13 

15 
16 
17 
18 

19 
20 
22 
22 
23 
23 
24 

25 
25 
26 
26 
27 
27 
29 
29 
30 

5,799 
1,251 
1,935 
2,071 
1,966 

1,920 
3,003 

3,067 
2,515 
2,052 

1.526 

1,782 

1,872 
5,089 

2,529 

1,911 
198 
92 
80 
90 
78 
160 
147 
131 
150 
142 
144 
115 
179 
1,956 
785 
182 
153 
495 
265 
244 

88,  861 

Middle  Hill              

Zoltoi  Keef  Ketova 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill.  Tols- 
toi  Zoltoi 

Halfway  Point,  Lukannon, 
Zoltoi         

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi                                  

Southwest  Bay 

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Zol- 
toi 

Middle   Hill,   Tolstoi,   Lukan- 

do                                .... 

Halfway  Point  and  Zoltoi 

Halfway  Point  and  Zoltoi  

Southwest  Bav  

English  Bay,  'Middle  Hill,  Ke- 
tova                      

Middle  Hill,  Lukannon,  Zoltoi. 
Zoltoi 

do                 .                     -.- 

English  Bay,   Tolstoi,   Middle 
Hill  

do  

do 

Northeast  Point 

do                         

Middle  Hill,  Tolstoi,  Lukannon, 
Ketova    Zoltoi    Reef 

do 

do                             

Middle     Hill,    Zoltoi,    Tolstoi, 

do 

Reef 

Zoltoi 

Ketova                      

..  do  

Reef 

do 

do                                    

do 

do 

do 

do 

do                              .... 

Tolstoi               

...do  

Northeast  Point  (to  date) 

do 

Reef                            

do  

do 

do 

Total        

63,  295 

Reef  

sReef 

English  Bay 

177 
36 
20 
187 
15 
427 
318 

767 
1,239 
426 

1,364 
865 
771 
838 
1,424 

],266 
912 
487 
1,793 
1,117 
3,992 
2,163 
1,729 
1,197 

2,546 
1,830 
5,134 
1,500 
1,662 
1,826 
1,888 

1,340 
1,522 

Reef 

do 

^Northeast  Point  (to  date)     

Tolstoi           

do 

Reef 

Halfway  Point  and  Reef 

do                          

Northeast  Point  (to  date) 

English  Bay 

Reef 

Reef 

Total 

Southwest  and   English  bays, 

Sea  Lion  Rock         

Reef  and  Halfway  Point  

181 
141 
49 
73 
125 
587 
741 
973 
1,700 

617 
1,309 
986 
789 
1,532 
1,143 
847 

1,733 
1,681 
1,051 
1,373 
667 
1,328 
539 
1,602 
553 
2,681 

Ketova  and  Tolstoi 

Southwest  Bay  and  Halfway 
Point 

Reef 

Zoltoi     .           

Zoltoi,  Ketova,  English  Bay  
Zoltoi  and  Reef 

Zoltoi  and  Reef 

do               

Halfway  Point 

Tolstoi  and  English  Bay  
Halfway  Point      

Southwest  Bay 

English    Bay,   Tolstoi,  Reef, 
Zoltoi 

Zoltoi  and  Reef 

Southwest  Bay                      

Halfway  Point  

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Zol- 
toi 

Southwest  Bav  

Lukannon  and  Halfway  Point.  . 
Zoltoi  and  Reef                       .  .. 

Northeast  Point 

Zoltoi,  Reef.  Lukannon  

Northeast  Point                    

Zoltoi,  Reef,  Lukannon,  Ketova. 

Halfway  Point  and  Zoltoi  
Northeast  Point  

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi 

English  Bav,  Southwest  Bay, 
Middle  Hill  

Zoltoi  Reef  Ketova 

Reef  and  Lukannon  

Northeast  Point 

Northeast  Point  

Tolstoi,  Middle  Hill,  Lukannon. 
Zoltoi  and  Halfway  Point  
Zoltoi,  Reef,  Tolstoi,  Lukannon. 
English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill.. 
Southwest  Bay,  Zoltoi,  Middle 

Halfway  Point   

Lukannon  Zoltoi,  Reef  

Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bay  

English  Bav  and  Tolstoi... 

English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill.  .  . 

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


309 


Tables  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 
1870  to  1889,  both  incluaire— Continued. 

ST.  PAUL  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
tor  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 

killed 
tor  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1885. 
June  30 

Northeast  Point 

1  053 

1886. 
May  29 

Reef                    

153 

July     1 

Reef  Lukannon  Zoltoi  Ketova 

1  777 

do        

562 

1 

Northeast  Point    

1  096 

8 

Tolstoi,   English   Bay,    South- 

2 

Tolstoi     Middle  Hill    English 

1  323 

Bav 

1  465 

9 

H  alf  way  Point  

299 

2 

Northeast  Point  

631 

10 

Reef  and  Zoltoi  

634 

3 

Halfway  Point  and  Zoltoi 

2  134 

H 

English  Bav       

214 

3 

658 

14 

427 

4 

976 

14 

1.343 

4 

Northeast  Point 

161 

15 

Southwest  Bay  

1,166 

6 

1  271 

15 

1  116 

6 

Northeast  Point 

*522 

16 

English  Bay  Middle  Hill  Tol- 

7 

Middle  Hill    Southwest  Bay 

,stoi          

850 

Tolstoi 

2  664 

16 

585 

7 

Northeast  Point 

1  184 

17 

Halfway  Point                  

833 

8 

Zoltoi,  Lukannon  Ketova 

2  550 

17 

Northeast  Point  

761 

8 

Northeast  Point 

746 

18 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

651 

9 

Middle  Hill  and  Tolstoi 

1  294 

18 

Northeast  Point         

376 

9 

Northeast  Point                     

793 

19 

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 

10 

Hiilt'way  Point 

2  304 

stoi 

1,064 

10 

Northeast  Point 

671 

19 

Northeast  Point  

371 

13 

2  134 

21 

1  891 

13 

Northeast  Point 

*822 

21 

Northeast  Point 

1,161 

14 

English  Bav  and  Tolstoi 

2  692 

22 

English  Bav  and  Tolstoi  

1,007 

14 

'955 

22 

Northeast  Point 

659 

15 

Zoltoi 

2  139 

23 

Halfway  Point 

1,770 

15 

Northeast  Point 

363 

23 

Northeast  Point     

955 

16 

0    V-J7 

24 

Zoltoi 

I  555 

16 

Northeast  Point 

757 

24 

Northeast  Point 

498 

17 

Zoltoi  

2  203 

95 

Reel'  Zoltoi  English  Bay,  Mid- 

17 

Northeast  Point 

647  j 

dle  Hill  Tolstoi 

2  158 

18 

Reef.  Tolstoi  Middle  Hill 

1  55° 

25 

Northeast  Point 

581 

18 

Northeast  Point  

616 

26 

do         

441 

20 

1  591 

28 

1  070 

20 

Northeast  Point 

828 

28 

926 

21 

21 

Middle  Hill  and  English  Bay  .  .  . 
Northeast  Point 

2,  723 
474 

29 
29 

English  Bay,  Tolstoi,  Zoltoi  

1,503 
794 

22 

Zoltoi  and  Lukannon 

2  743 

30 

Halfway  Point 

490 

22 

Northeast  Point 

687 

30 

Northeast  Point  

1,056 

23 

Middle     Hill      Enelish    Bav 

July     1 

English  Bav  and  Tolstoi 

1,319 

Zoltoi  I..     .7 

1  603 

Northeast  Point 

1,202 

23 

Northeast  Point  

631 

2 

Southwest  Bav  

856 

24 

Halfway  Point     Middle    Hill 

2 

Northeast  Point 

566 

Ketova  

2  498 

3 

Reef  and  Zoltoi             

1,263 

25 

English    Bay    Zoltoi    Ketova 

5 

English  Bay  and  Tolstoi 

1  163 

Middle  Hill  Lukannon  Reef' 

2  215 

5 

1  180 

27 

Zoltoi,  Reef,  Middle  Hill 

*983 

6 

Halfway  Point               

942 

Aug.    3 

Zoltoi 

147 

Q 

Northeast  Point 

866 

12 

do 

179 

1 

Zoltoi  Peef  Lukannon          .... 

1  969 

21 

Zoltoi  and  Reef  

185 

1 

Northeast  Point    

1,187 

Sept.    5 

Zoltoi 

135 

8 

Southwest  Bav 

1  466 

12 

....  do  

155 

8 

952 

25 

do 

15%> 

g 

English    Bav    Middle    Hill 

Oct.      7 

do 

78 

Tolstoi 

1  563 

14 

do  

122 

g 

Northeast  Point                      .... 

636 

26 

do 

MI 

10 

1  133 

Nov.    2 

Reef  

1  524 

12 

Halfway  Point 

1  044 

4 

do 

064 

7 

.  do 

300 

13 

Point 

1  442 

9 

Middle  Hill 

332 

12 

Northeast  Point                     .  ... 

1  501 

21 

Reef 

148 

14 

English  Bav  and  Middle  Hill 

1  074 

Dec.     4> 

fin 

14 

Northeast  Point  

'602 

W 

Northeast  Point 

48 

15 
15 

Zoltoi,  Reef,  Ketova,  Lukannon. 
Northeast  Point 

1,957 
899 

16 

937 

Total 

88  880  ' 

16 

Northeast  Point 

1  013 

1886. 

17 

Southwest  Bay  and  Southwest 
Point            '                     .  . 

2,057 

Jan.   21 

Sea  Lion  Rock  

84 

17 

Northeast  Point 

407 

29 

Southwest  Bay 

40 

19 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

2  312 

May     5 

Northeast  Point 

7 

19 

Northeast  Point 

'753 

y     8 

do  

5 

20 

English  Bay   Middle  Hill   Tol- 

17 

Southwest  Bay  and  Reef  

300 

atoi                         

3,140 

10-17 

Northeast  Point... 

49  ; 

20 

Northeast  Point.  .  . 

801 

310 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Tables  shotting  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 
1870  to  1889,  both  inclusive — Continued. 


ST.  PAUL  ISLAND-Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1886. 
July  21 
21 
22 

22 
23 
23 
24 
24 
26 

Aug.    3 

19 
30 
Sept.    6 
17 
29 
Oct.    11 
28 
Nov.    5 
6 
8 
10 
22 
23 
Dec.     1 
21 

1887. 
May  24 
June    1 
6 
9 
11 
13 
15 
16 
17 
20 
20 
21 
21 
22 
22 
23 

24 
24 
23 
25 
27 
27 
28 
28 
29 
29 
30 
30 
July     1 

2 
2 
4 
4 
5 
5 
6 
6 
7 
7 
8 

Halfway  Point       

1,476 
312 

2,015 
923 
3,147 
739 
1,625 
658 

1,993  ! 
75 
152 
134  i 
96 
148 
146 
148 
144 
152 
768 
445 
900 
711 
379 
289 
380  i 
191 

1887. 
July    8 

9 
12 
12 
13 
13 
14 
14 
15 
15 
10 
16 
17 
18 
18 
19 

19 
20 
20 
21 
21 
22 

22 
23 

24 
31 
Aug.    1 

16 
24 
Sept.    5 
6 
15 
28 
Oct.      6 
17 
26 
Nov.     1 
3 
4 
6 
7 
25 
26 
Dec.     9 

15 

1888. 
Jan.    25 
May  19 
24 
28 
31 
June    2 
7 
9 
11 
12 
15 
16 
18 
18 
19 
19 
21 
21 
22 

Northeast  Point  

795 
2,065 
429 
2,595 
2,219 
3,029 
1,930 
1,201 
826 
1,298 
803 
986 
546 
617 
2,108 
1,671 

2,038 
922 
3,209 
11,  092 
1,397 
798 

1,877 
1,082 

2,226 
232 
39 
137 
113 
209 
521 
403 
356 
192 
100 
116 
108 
76 
1  013 

Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bay 

Southwest  Bay  and  Southwest 
Point 

N  ortheast  Point  

English  Bay,  Tolstoi,  Lukannon 
Northeast  Point  

Northeast  Point          

Reef,  Zoltoi,  Lukannon,  Ketova. 
Northeast  Point                  

R«'ef  Zoltoi  Ketova 

Northeast  Point  

English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill.  .. 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point,  South  west  Bay, 

Tolstoi  and  Lukannon  

Zoltoi                                  

Keel'  and  Zoltoi  

do 

.    do 

West  Point     

do 

do 

Northeast  Point               

..    do  

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi 

Reef 

do 

do 

Reef,  Zoltoi,  Lukannon.  Ketova. 
Northeast  Point  

do                                  ... 

Reef  and  Lukannon  

Halfwav  Point  and  Lagoon  
Northeast  Point  

Reef 

...  do     . 

English  Bay,    Tolstoi,  Middle 
Hill            '     

do 

Tolstoi 

Northeast  Point 

Reef 

Southwest  Bay,   Reef,   Zoltoi, 
Lukannon     *   

Tolstoi 

Total 

Tolstoi 

88,  085 

275 
138 
419 
315 
501 
407 
526 
750 
765 
523 
1.899 
1,641 
452 
1.004 
1,172 
1,314 
521 
1,165 
709 

1,961 
1,180 
1,205 
2,964 
691 
1,895 
1,144 
1,604 
1,203 
1,  162 
1,201 
!     1,  616 
624 
1,703 
1,196 
2,023 
1,056 
990 
!     1,247 
1,622 
994 
i     1,  125 

Northeast  Point            

Reef  and  Southwest  Bay 

Zoltoi 

do                                 

Northeast  Point 

Tolstoi 

Middle  Hill 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Tolstoi                              

Zoltoi                         

Southwest  Bay 

do                                          -   - 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

do                            

Halfway  Point 

do 

English  Bay  and  Tolstoi 

do                                  

Reef 

Northeast  Point 

do                                 

1,132 
32 
65 
611 
82 
185 
450 

169 

Reef                 

do        

Zoltoi                               

English  Bay,  Tolstoi,  Lukannon 

Mid  die  Hill 

Reef                                           

Halfway  Point 

Middle  Hill  and  Tolstoi 

Northeast  Point 

do 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Sea  Lion  Rock  and  Southwest 

Il'l  V 

Northeast  Point 

Tolstoi,  Middle  Hill,   English 
Bay 

Total 

89,  092 

545 
131 
113 
82 
82 
121 
175 
342 
543 
587 
428 
789 
764 
1,490 
490 
930 
1,400 
1,604 
801 

West  Point  and  Southwest  Bay 
Northeast  Point    

Northeast  Point 

Reef,  Zoltoi,  Ketova,  Lukannon  . 
Northeast  Point  

Tolstoi,  Reef,  Sea  Lion  Rook... 
Reef                        

Middle  Hill  mid  Tolstoi 

do 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point     

Northeast  Point 

Reef 

Reef  and  Zoltoi     

Tolstoi 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Southwest  Bay     

Northeast  Point 

Tolstoi  and  Middle  Hill 

Halfway  Point      

Northeast  Point 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Southwest  Bay  

Tolstoi          

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Reef  and  Zoltoi  .. 

Halfway  Point  

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


311 


ibles  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  f  ram, 
1870  to  1889,  both  inclusive — Continued. 

ST.  PAUL  ISLAND— Continued. 


Rookery. 


Total 

killed 

for  all 

pur- 

poses. 


Date. 


Rookery. 


Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 


1888. 
June  23 
23 
22 
25 
25 
26 

26 
27 

27 
28 

28 
29 
29 
30 

30 
July     2 

3 
4 

4 
5 

5 
6 
6 

7 
7 


[J 

10 
12 

12 

13 

13 

14 

15  , 

15  j 

16 

16 

17 

17 

18  I 

18 

19 

19 

20 

20 

21 

21 

21 

23 

23 

'J4 

24 

25 

25 
26 
26 
27 

Aug.  2 
8 
16 
23 
24 
'24 


English  Bay, Tolstoi, Middle  Hill 
Northeast  Point 


-do 


Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bav.  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi 

Northeast  Point 

Reef,  Zoltoi,  Ketova,  Lukan- 
non   

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point 

South  west  Bay 

Northeast  Point 

Middle  Hill,  English  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi   

Northeast  Point    

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bay,  Tolstoi,  Lukan- 
non   

Northeast  Point 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bay,  Tolstoi,  Lukan- 
non, Middle  Hill 

Northeast  Point , 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi   

Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bay , 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point 

West  Point 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bav  and  Tolstoi 

Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point 

Hal f way  Point 

Northeast  Point 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bay  and  Tolstoi 

Lagoon 

Northeast  Point 

Reef,  Lukannon,  Zoltoi 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bav,  Tolstoi,  Middle 
Hill , 

Northeast  Point 

Keel'.  Zoltoi,  Lukanuou 

Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bav  and  Zoltoi 

Zoltoi  . . 


do 


do 


Middle  Hill  and  Lukannon 

Zoltoi 

...do... 


702 
565 
973 
1,440 
870 

1,158 
1,509 

2,005 

850 

911 

1,180 

1,098 

625 

1,625 

964 

2,071 

1,413 

1,188 

1,439 

822 

1,241 

1,  942 

446 

1,491 

1,609 

490 

906 

2,398 

1,740 

1,083 

959 

1,557 

927 

1,337 

912 

773 

550 

481 

2,004 

1,038 

2,055 

1,328 

2,216 

1,004 

1,410 

705 

2,018 

646 

1,157 

190 

742 

1,269 

917 

347 

970 

1,619 

1,028 

1,353 

650 

950 

177 

140 

159 

364 

321 

19 


Sept.  6 
15 
22 
29 

Oct.  10 
18 
27 

Nov.    3 

5 

7 

8 

9 

15 

26 

30 

Dec.  17 
26 


May  22 
25 
28 
31 

June  5 
10 
12 
14 
15 
17 
17 
18 

18 
19 
19 

20 
21 
22 

24 
24 
25 
25 
26 
26 
27 
27 
28 
28 
29 
29 

July  1 
1 
2 


Zoltoi 

do 

do 

do 

Lukaunon 

Middle  Hill 

....do 

Middle  Hill  and  Zoltoi. 

Reef 

....do 

....do 

....do 

Middle  Hill 

Reef 

....do 

Tolstoi 

Sea  Lion  Rock . . . 


114 

100 

98 

98 

83 

98 

111 

126 

761 

547 

716 

154 

277 

111 

129 

206 

78 


Total 86,  270 


Sea  Lion  Rock. 
Reef. . . 


.do 


Northeast  Point. 

Reef 

...do... 


Tolstoi 

Zoltoi  and  Reef 

Southwest  Bay 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bav,  Tolstoi,  Middle 

Hill 

Northeast  Point 

..do... 


Reef,  Zoltoi.  Lukannon 

Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point 

English    Bay,  Tolstoi,  Middle 

Hill . 

Northeast  Point 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Halfway  Point  and  Lukannon. . 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill  .. 

Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point 

Reef,  Zoltoi,  Ketova 

Northeast  Point 

...do... 


English  Bay  and  Tolstoi 

Northeast  Point 

Reef,  Zolto'i,  Lukannon 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bav.  Tolstoi,  Middle 

Hill 

Reef.  Zoltoi,  Lukannon 

Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bay,  Tolstoi,  Middle 

Hill 

Northeast  Point 

Reef,  Zoltoi,  Lukannon 

Northeast  Point 

English  Bay  and  Tolstoi 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point 

Keef  and  Zoltoi... 


124 
41 
234 
133 
201 
120 
947 
762 
340 
895 
1,054 

1,161 
1,270 

494 
1,561 

253 
1,205 

1,355 

754 

2,578 

979 

1,407 

1,314 

441 

311 

844 

1,349 

479 

335 

1,038 

1,200 

1, 023 

834 

968 

1,841 
1,706 
1,559 
1,255 
1,524 

1,302 
376 
814 
914 

1,314 
641 
654 
800 

2,004 


312 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Tables  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 
1870  to  1889,  both  inclusive — Continued. 


ST.  PAUL  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1889. 
July  13 
13 
15 
15 
16 
16 
17 
17 
18 

18 
19 
19 
20 
20 
22 

22 
23 
23 
24 
24 
25 
25 
26 
26 

Southwest  Bay  . 

1,006 
793 
3,085 
1.838 
1,911 
1,156 
1,931 
948 

2,046 
1,282 
2,017 
834 
1,913 
243 

1,943 
350 
1,122 
740 
1,384 
616 
1,756 
1 
680 
1,483  ! 
I 

1889. 
July  27 
29 
29 
30 
30 
31 
81 
Aug.uO 

22 
31 
Sept.    9 

25 
Oct.      5 
X 
26 
Nov.    4 
19 
21 
27 
27 
30 
Dec.    11 

1,105 
1,643 
1,624 
973 
615 
538 
160 
163 
131 
141 
179 
141 
110 
107 
120 
103 
132 
1,169 
1,460 
347 
192 
10 
240 
243 

~73.  982 

Northeast  Point  

English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill.  .  . 
Northeast  Point  

English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill.. 
Northeast  foint  

Halfway  Point     . 

Reef  Zoltoi  Lukannon 

Northeast  Point  

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point  and  Lukannon. 
Northeast  Point  

Lukannon 

Lagoon,  English  Bay,   Middle 
Hill  

Zoltoi  

do 

Tolstoi   

Southwest  Bay  

Zoltoi 

Northeast  Point  

do 

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

do 

Northeast  Point  

do 

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Lu- 
kannon  .          

do  

Lukannon 

Northeast  Point 

Zoltoi 

Reef,  Zoltoi,  Ketova 

Tolstoi 

Northeast  Point  

Reef  

Halfway  Point 

do 

Northeast  Point  .. 

Zapadnie 

English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill.. 
Northeast  Point 

Reef 

Zapadnie 

Southwest  Bay  

Total 

Northeast  Point 

ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND. 

1870. 

1871. 
June    4 
6 
8 
9 
13 
15 
17 
20 
22 
24 
26 
27 
28 
July    1 
3 
5 
8 
10 
12 
14 
15 
18 
20 
21 
23 
25 
27 
28 
30 
31 

Not  indicated  in  the  records 
of  this  year. 
Alaska  Commercial  Co.,  Hutch- 
inson  Kohl  &  Co 

(  1,200 
<      473 
I  6,786 

1872. 
June    3 
5 

10 
11 
11 
12 

12 
15 

15 
17 

IS 

19 
22 
22 
22 
24 
24 
25 
25 
27 
28 
29 
29 
July     1 
2 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
6 
7 
9 
9 
10 
11 
12 
14 
15 
15 
17 
18 

Southwest  Bay  

140 
26 
49 
162 
81 
175 
98 
61 
140 
188 
405 
300 
212 
261 
860 
349 
701 
261 
629 
500 
237 
805 
400 
560 
643 
981 
454 
431 
245 
641 
300 
574 
274 
718 
367 
300 
610 
1,412 
482 
1,  332 
600 
583 
770 
575 

North 

East  

South  wtjjt  Bav 

Total 

North      ..        "... 

Starry  Arteel 

8,459 

Southwest  Bay     . 

Near  

East 

123 
98 
69  1 
277  i 
322 
301  j 
434 
172 
518 
594 
298 
462 
571 
875 
303 
518 
612 
1,769 
1,021 
481 
1,038 
1,264 
484 
945 
542 
792 
1,054 
730 
1,270 
893 
237 
2,090 

Starry  Arteel 

North  

Northeast 

East 

Near 

North  

Southwest  Bay 

Starry  Arteel 

Starry  A  rteel 

Southwest  Bay  

East 

Northern 

North  

Southwest  Bay 

Starry  Arteel 

Northeast 

Southwest  Bay  

BMI 

North 

Starry  Arteel     . 

North 

Southwest  Bay 

Starry  Arteel  .. 

Starry  Arteel 

Southwest  Bay  

East        

Northern 

North 

do 

Starry  Arteel 

Southwest  Bav 

East 

•    do 

Starr  v  A  rteel  

Southwest  Bay 

Soutliwest  Bay 

North 

East                                           .     . 

Starry  Arteel  

do 

.North                                   

Starry  Arteel 

East  

Southwest  I'.av               

North 

Taken  in  October 

East                 .                 

Starry  Arteel  

Total 

North 

21,  157 

Ea"*t 

Starrv  Arteel  .  .  . 

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


313 


Tables  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  far  seals,  for  whatxofi-rr  purpose,  on  the  I'ribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 
1870  to  1M9,  both  im-luxive— Continued. 

ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 

killed 
lor  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1872. 
July  19 

Southwest  Bay.  .  .  . 

1  171 

1874. 
June  29 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

686 

20 

400 

July     1 

East 

800 

°2 

Starr  v  Arteel. 

600 

792 

22 

North  

320 

g 

East 

641 

23 

East  

703 

9 

1  do 

548 

25 

Starry  Arteel 

:$oo 

14 

East  and  North 

263 

25 

rust                                < 

400 

15 

East 

*>34 

25 

North 

252 

16 

568 

27 

East  

350 

18 

Southwest  Bay 

411 

27 

North 

85 

20 

East 

871 

27 

Starry  Arteel 

200 

22 

East  and  North 

778 

27 

Soutliwest  Bay  

227 

24 

East 

640 

Killed  for  native*'  food  

2,000 

24 

North  

156 

Pups  killed  for  food 

2  446 

Total 

>>7  ooo 

Total 

12  446 

1873. 
June    4 

North 

198 

5 

Starry  Arteel 

240 

1875. 

6 
9 

10 

Southwest  Bay  

Kast  and  Starry  Arteel  
Southwest  Bay  

285 
190 
275 

June    1 
9 
11 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  
do  
East  

302 
256 
177 

12 
13 
16 
17 

North  

Southwest  Bay  
North  and  Starry  Arteel  
Southwest  Bay  

300 
521 
378 
174 

14 

16 
18 
19 
23 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  
East  
Starry  Arteel  and  North  
Southwest  Bay  

East 

307 
358 
334 
1,294 
666 

21 

01 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

313 

506 

24 

28 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  
East'  

540 
692 

23 

East  

180 

30 

Trilv-       *i 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

Fast 

1,412 

24 
>>5 

Sovit  Invest  Bay  

499 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

1,019 

26 

12 

East  

1.073 

27 

Southwest  Bay. 

301 

14 

North  

676 

17 

do  

177 

30 

310 

Killed  for  food  

1,500 

30 

East  ."  

168 

July     2 

Total  

11,500 

Southwest  Bay 

564 

1876 

4 

East  

592 

North 

415 

5 

Starry  Arteel 

517 

g 

'¥79 

8 

Southwest  Bay  

743 

12 

East     . 

388 

8 

East  '  

616 

14 

Southwest  Bay 

519 

9 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

690 

15 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

784 

11 

East  

974 

22 

Fast 

KOI 

11 

Soutliwest  Bay  

602 

25 

•Starry  Arteel  and  North 

2  067 

12 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  .  .  . 

474 

27 

East  ' 

1  168 

13 

East'  1  

345 

29 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

1  023 

14 

Southwest  Bay  

337 

July     3 

East 

1  259 

16 

Starry  Arteel'and  North... 

480 

Starry  Arteel 

1  027 

17 

East  

1  097 

7 

East' 

317 

18 

Southwest  Bay  

913 

Pups  for  food 

1  500 

20 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

1  359 

21 

East  

1,810 

Total 

11  500 

23 

Southwest  Bay. 

513 

23 
25 
26 

Starry  Arteel  .. 
East'.  
Southwest  Bay  

889 
1,710 
600 

1877. 
June    1 
12 

North  
do  

198 
702 

28 
28 

Starry  Arteel'  
East  
Pups  killed  for  food  

588 
1,  528 
2.190 

13 
14 
18 
20 

East  

Sout  h  west  Bay  •  
North  and  Starry  Arteel  
"Fast- 

578 
1,389 
1,154 

Total  

27.  190 

22 

North  •.  

871 

1874. 

23 
26 

East  

North  and  Starry  Arteel  .  . 

552 
1,860 

June     1 

North  

56 

29 

East 

1  589 

8 

do  

81 

july     3 

i    g«g 

11 

East  

116 

East 

2   164 

19 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

154 

g 

North 

300 

14 

Southwest  Hay  

250 

10 

East 

880 

16 

East  '  

170 

Killed  for  food 

ou 

18 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

354 

do 

1  500 

22 

East  

178 

23 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

378 

, 

Total 
11  

16  500 

27 

Southwest  Bay... 

575 

314 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Tables  shelving  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 
1870  to  1889,  both  inclusive — Continued. 


ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1878. 
June  10 

North 

325 

1880. 

East 

352 

14 

Southwest  Bay  

1,074 

15 

Southwest  Bay 

738 

17 

North,  Starry  Arteel,  East  

858 

17 

do  

254 

19 

Southwest  Bay  

717 

17 

North  and  Starrv  Arteel 

559 

22 

North  and  Starry  Arteel 

570 

19 

East 

599 

25 

East 

324 

19 

223 

27 

851 

91 

North  'ind  Starry  Arteel 

1  183 

28 

do                   

517 

22 

Southwest  Bay 

*518 

Killed  for  food  to  date 

405 

23 

East 

814 

July     1 

East 

644 

25 

839 

North  and  Starry  Arteel  

930 

25 

North  and  Starry  Arteel 

1  322 

A 

Southwest  Bay 

1  433 

28 

East 

1  770 

8 

East        

793 

29 

Southwest  Bay 

846 

10 

North  and  Starry  Arteel  

1,333 

30 

Starry  Arteel  

808 

12 

Southwest  Bay 

328 

July     1 

North 

392 

13 

do  

1,025 

f) 

East  

956 

15 

East 

1  892 

2 

961 

17 

East  and  North  

1,290 

North  and  Starry  Arteel 

515 

19 

North  and  Starry  Arteel 

1  577 

6 

East 

1  483 

21 

East               

1  291 

7 

Southwest  Bay 

1  814 

Killed  for  food  to  May  19,  1879.. 

2,627 

9 

East  ,  

949 

Total 

20  804 

During  season  perished  on  the 

28 

16 

72 

17 

Zapadnie     

7 

1879 

North 

G9 

20 

do 

g 

June    9 

East  

450 

28 

North 

60 

10 

Southwest  Bay 

105 

An<?     6 

do 

51 

H 

Starry  A  rteel  

413 

n 

North  and  East 

226 

12 

Southwest  Bay 

372 

Sept     1 

North 

40 

13 

East                            .               .   . 

445 

Zapadnie 

35 

16 

Southwest  Bay  

502 

27 

North  

47 

17 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

755 

Oct       5 

do 

62 

19 

East  '  

473 

28 

do 

501 

20 

Southwest  Bay 

434 

Nov     1 

do 

765 

20 

North  and  Starry  Arteel  

515 

9 

Zapadnie        

30 

23 

576 

18 

do 

10 

23 

East  

888 

Dec      1 

East                                   ...     . 

65 

25 

Southwest  Bav  

524 

3 

Zapadnie  

16 

25 

do 

278 

26 

North  and  Starry  Arteel  

1,  179 

Total      

20,  939 

27 

East 

1  595 

30 

North  and  Starry  Arteel  

1  414 

1881. 

July     3 

Southwest  Bay 

849 

May  21 

North                              

32 

351 

31 

do 

55 

4 

North 

535 

June    9 

Starry  Arteel   East  North 

612 

5 

East           

1  775 

13 

...     do          

920 

(J 

North  and  Starry  Arteel 

1  263 

15 

498 

g 

East        .       .  . 

1  840 

16 

Starry  Arteel,  North,  East  

622 

14 

North 

863 

20 

do 

445 

16 

Southwest  Bay 

1  369 

21 

East  and  Zapadnie  

1,030 

16 

do  

g 

23 

Starry  Arteel,  North,  Zapadnie. 

518 

24 

North 

63 

24 

East 

553 

28 

do 

48 

27 

Stany  Arteel  and  North 

815 

Aue    6 

do 

68 

28 

East  and  Zapadnie    

1,119 

10 

North 

54 

30 

Zapadnie,  Starry  Arteel,  North  . 

1,034 

Sept     1 

do 

47 

July     1 

East                            

1,378 

2? 

do 

58 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

1  182 

Oct      2 

do 

48 

6 

Zapadnie             

476 

15 

do 

18 

7 

East 

1  356 

Nov     3 

do 

318 

g 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

363 

g 

Killed  for  food 

1  506 

11 

East 

1,310 

g 

12 

Starry  A  rteel       

408 

Dec     6 

teel 

113 

12 

771 

14  15 

Ea»t 

1  715 

Total 

22  190 

14 

592 

1880 

16 
26 

Kast,  North,  Starry  Arteel  
North 

1,639 
43 

May  18 

North 

14 

30 

do  

45 

26 

23 

Aue     9 

do                                        

57 

North 

82 

15 

do 

92 

9 

East 

338 

26 

do 

52 

12 

North  and  Starry  Arteel  .  .  . 

'564 

Sept.    3 

...do... 

52 

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


315 


Tables  showing  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company— that  is,  from 
1870  to  18S9,  both  inclusive— Continued. 

ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 

killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

1881. 
Sept   13 

North 

65 

1883. 
July  31 

Starry  Arteel  North  East 

473 

24 

East                          

88 

During  theseason,  perished  on 

Oct       3 

North  

68 

drives  

38 

22 

East                            

50 

Aug   13 

East 

100 

Nov.     2 

North     

559 

21 

Near  

50 

10 

do 

472 

31 

Little  East 

60 

30 

Starry  Arteel 

113 

Sept.  14 

East  

54 

Oct.    19 

Near  .   . 

120 

Total 

91  289 

29 

Near  and  North 

540 

Nov.    2 

North 

340 

1882. 

19 

North  and  Starry  Arteel 

171 

May   22 

North  

12 

29 

do  

48 

Total 

16  214 

June    6 

do 

26 

12 
16 

Starry  Arteel,  North,  East  
do 

509 

8<io 

1884 
May  21 

East 

15 

19 

...     do 

927 

26 

North 

52 

22 

do  

847 

June    4 

East 

119 

24 

do 

1  1% 

10 

1  222 

27 

....  do 

1  044 

12 

Starry  Arteel  North  East 

694 

29 

do  

1  273 

16 

Zapaclnie 

585 

July     1 

do 

1  065 

18 

572 

3 

do       .     .. 

911 

21 

Zapadnie 

592 

5 

do 

1  384 

23 

Starry  Arteel  Vorth  East 

603 

g 

do 

1  955 

26 

578 

10 

East  

1  371 

28 

Starry  Arteel  North  East 

489 

11 

Starrv  Arteel  and  North  

1,115 

Julv     1 

Zapadnie 

289 

12 

East/  

1,070 

1 

do  

11 

14 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

527 

Starry  Arteel  North  East 

71 

15 

East 

649 

7 

90 

17 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  .  .  . 

1,022 

10 

Starry  Arteel,  North  East 

1  269 

18 

East/  

1  086 

12 

Zapaduie 

973 

19 

Starry  Arteel  aud  North... 

655 

14 

East  and  Little  East 

302 

20 

North  

50 

15 

465 

Aug.    5 

East  

40 

16 

Zapadnie 

726 

*    11 

Starrv  Arteel  

45 

18 

East  and  Little  East 

996 

17 

East  

34 

19 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

506 

25 

do  

44 

23 

Zapadnie 

797 

Sept.  15 

do  

46 

24 

744 

Nov.  22 

Starry  Arteel  

119 

25 

East  and  Little  East 

597 

28 

do  

19 

26 

Zapadnie 

573 

30 

ftio 

Total  

19  978 

Auc     4 

East 

225 

g     I 

do 

19 

1883. 

14 

North  .  . 

48 

May   26 

North... 

40 

21 

East 

64 

June    4 

do  

78 

Sept     2 

Near 

60 

12 

Starrv  Arteel  and  East.  .  . 

136 

15 

North  

60 

i5 

do  

287 

Nov      3 

do 

515 

19 

Starrv  Arteel  

61 

5 

do 

482 

22 

East  and  Starry  Arteel  

380 

12 

do... 

503 

25 

EaHt.  North,  Starry  Arteel... 

684 

26 

Starry  Arteel  

27 

28 

do  

443 

30 

do  

611 

Total 

16  573 

July     2 

do... 

340 

4 

do  

200 

1885 

7 

do  

647 

May   18 

North 

40 

9 

Zapadnie  

1,336 

June    1 

do 

38 

10 

Little  East  and  East  

307 

11 

Starry  Arteel  North  East 

750 

10 

Zapadnie  

507 

15 

77 

11 

North  and  Ststrry  Arteel  

263 

18 

do 

698 

12 

Little  East  and  East  

546 

17 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

802 

13 

North  and  Starrv  Arteel  

321 

15 

East  

825 

16 

Little  East  and  East  

775 

22 

414 

17 

Zapaduie  

1  017 

27 

1   771* 

17 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

130 

2!) 

Zapadnie 

401 

18 

Little  East  and  East 

467 

July     3 

o   OR7 

19 

Zapaduie  

1  216 

789 

20 

Little  East  and  East 

281 

10 

0     -ICQ 

21 

Zapadnie  

1,150 

13 

1  Oil 

23 
25 

North,  East,  Starry  Arteel  
East  

766 
78 

17 
20 

Starry  Arteel,  North,  East  

2,222 
483 

27 

Starry  Arteei,  North,  East  

606 

25 

North 

35 

30 

do  

505 

Aug.    3 

...do... 

23 

316 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Table*  xhowiny  in  detail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  the  Pribilof 
Inlands  dnriny  the  term  of  the  lease  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  is,  from 

L^?»  to  JSS^,  loth  inclusive — Continued. 


ST.  C.EOIUIE   ISLAND— Continued. 


Dai 

188 
An" 

6 

Rookery. 

North 

Total 
killed 
for  all         Date.                            Kouker\  . 
pur- 
poses. 

1887. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

53 

°1 

East 

North 

117                    '•>              ,1,, 

87 

Nov. 

4 

Near  
North  

250                   20    do  

700                  22              do 

23 

61 

18 
21 

Starrv  Arteel  

120       Sept.     5      Near  
41                    10      /apadnie  

44 

24 

Perished  on  drives  during  year. 

5:>                19    do  
Oet      ''1      l>vnt 

45 

Total  

1(5.144       Nov.      1       Near 

766 

614 

188 
Mav 

5. 

18 

East 

li'.l                                         Total 

16  668 

North  

102 

June 

8 

(  'apt  ured  skins 

4           1888 

14 

/apadnie  food  skins  

81       June     0      North 

121 

in 
[4 
17 

Starry  Arteel.  North,  East  
Zapadnie  
Starry  Art  eel,  North,  East  

1,430                   11      /apadnie  
779                  12      Starrv  Arteel,  North.  E; 
1,4:18                   10    do  

272 
st  455 

:'J 

Starrv  Arteel  and  North  
East  ' 

742                   lit      Starrv  Arteel.  North.  E; 

343              i)-)          do 

st  :i24 
764 

24 

''8 

/apadnie  

do 

306                  2.".      /apadnie  

911 

8'15 

Starrv  Arteel  and  North 

fvl"                   ''7      Hast 

4:58 

Julv 

1 

East  ' 

48l)                  %>(*      Starrv  Artec!  'iinl   \orth 

•{43 

343 

6 

Starrv  Arteel  and  North  .. 
East  " 

50.3                3     East  
050                   4      Starrv  \rteeland  Nortl 

532 
50.3 

LO 

Starrv  Arteel  and  North    . 

867                     6      East 

650 

12 

745                     9      /apadnie 

389 

i  i 

East  

888                  10      Starry   Arteel  and  North 

1  170 

15 

14 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  
/apadnie 

712                  12      East  
(iGL!                   1'!      Starrv     .  rteel  and  North 

820 

518 

•'1 

Starrv  Arteel  and  North    .   ... 

851!                   16  '   /apadnie 

705 

East 

527                   17   !   North  

410 

An" 

23 

East  and  North  
N'ear  North 

295                  18  i   Starrv  Arteel  and  East.. 
14                   19      /apadnie 

692 
366 

<) 

East     

11                   20      Starrv  Arteel,  North,  Ea.- 
66                  23      /apadnie  

t  554 

!         179 

Eas!   :;:::::              ::: 

70                  25      /apadnie      

159 

Sept 

i; 

N'ortli 

7(3                   ''6      Starrv    Vrteel    North   Ea- 

t                      521 

Oct. 

East 

759                  27  !  /apadnie  

144 
t                      410 

Nov. 

8 
11) 

North  
East 

527        Aug.    9      Near'  
:!                     9       North 

39 
39 

Perished  on  drive 

1"                   15              do 

37 

''0      East 

191 

Total  

16.4:56                  28      Starry  Arteel  and  North 
'•M'nt      5       East  and  Starrv    Vrteel 

494 
428 

188 

"7      North 

40 

May 

'JO 

''8 

North  .. 
do 

25       Oct.    20      North  and  East  
:{"       Nov       1       North 

73 

610 

Jline 

9 

14 

North  and  East  
North,  Eaat.Starrv  Arteel  .... 
Z'Mndn  ie 

:J9()                    5    do  
465       Aug.  20      Zapadnie  (for  watchmen) 

368 
68 

20 

''61                                       Total 

17  034 

:•; 

Starrv  Arteel.   North,   East  
East  .'  
/apadnie 

971 
:">:{:)            1889. 
599       Mav    22      North  and  East,,        

60 

28 

'!0 

Starrv  Arteel  and  North  
Ea-t  ' 

8»7       June     4       East   

110                     10      /apadnie 

156 
207 

July 

1 

4 
6 

8 

il 
12 

Starr\   A  rteel  and  North  
/.apadnie  

Ka«t,  North.  Starry  Arteel  

/a'padnie!:: 
Starrv  Arteel    Near    North 

KID                    17     do  
88.'i                   18      Starrv  Arteel,  North.  Ean 
1.  :(21                    21       Ea-t 
421                    22      North  and  Starrv  Arteel 
701                    21      /apadnie  '  
1   •_'<)(;                 '25      EastannNorth   

244 

176 
284 
59(5 
496 

11 
18 
19 
21 

East.'., 
/apadnie  
Near.  North,  Starrv  Arteel    .... 
East  .'  
Starrv  Arteel  and  North  

1,509                   27      Zapadnie.. 
1.U77                   29      Starrv  A  rteel  and   East.. 
S91       Julv      1       Zapadnie  
1.  mo                   2      North,  East,  Starry  Artei 
189  i                   5     do  

'.'.'.'.'.'.'.,         429 
167 
1    275 
!         418 

SEAL   LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


317 


Tables  showing  in  (Mail  all  killing  of  fur  seals,  for  whatsoever  purpose,  on  Hie  I'riMlof 
Islands  during  the  term  of  the  leane  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company — that  /*,  from 
1870  to  1SS9,  both  inclusive— Continued. 


ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND— Continued. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

1889. 
Tnlv     8 

229 

1889. 

V  it  '  ••    1  0 

North 

10 

270 

"    19 

do 

12 

192 

30 

do  

13 

North    Fast    Blurry  Arteel 

667 

Sept     7 

East 

15 

371 

21 

.   ..  do  

16 

\orth    Fast    Starry  Arteel 

1  028 

30 

North 

18 

439 

Oct     11 

do 

19 

\nrth   Fast    Starry  Arteel 

1  140 

21 

Starry  Arteel  

22 

/aividnie 

500 

31 

North 

23 

North   Fast   Starry  Arteel 

628 

Nov     6 

do 

24 

279 

12 

....  do  

25 

North   East  Starry  Arteel 

1  430 

25 

Starry  Arteel 

27 

do' 

942 

28 

Zapadnie 

568 

Total  

29 

North,  East,  Starry  Arteel  

515 

Total 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 


55 
56 
48 
64 
50 
33 
37 
32 
4 

606 

477 

61 

15,  225 


Fur  seals  killed  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul,  for  all  purposes,  from  1870  to  1889,  both  inclusive. 
[Compiled  from  tables  on  file  in  the  Treasury  Department.] 


Year. 

Seals  killed  for  natives'  food. 

Seals  killed  for  skins  for 
lessees. 

Total  of  bachelors  killed, 
accepted  and  rejected. 

Grand 
total  of 
seals 
killed 
for  all 
pur- 
poses. 

Pups. 

Bach- 
elors. 

Skins 
ac- 
cepted. 

Skins 
re- 
jected. 

Bach- 
elors. 

Skins 
ac- 
cepted. 

Skins 
re- 
jected. 

Bach- 
elors. 

Skins 
ac- 
cepted. 

Skins 
re- 
jected. 

1870  . 

2,800 
2,877 
5,121 
5,489 
4,897 
3.  74fi 
3,958 
5,007 
5,206 
5,071 
4,413 

6.449 
2,341 
6,916 
2,090 
4,874 
6,  282 
5,061 
4,041 
4,718 
5,070 
4,466 
7,538 
5,175 
3,  168 
3,907 
3,184 
3,081 
4,207 
3,762 
3,400 

"2,296' 
5,365 
1,198 
4,  225 
5,784 
3,064 
2,853 
3,  632 
3,898 
3,408 
6,068 
3,362 
2.194 
2,582 
2,  508 
2,480 
3,975 
3,700 
2,570 

6,449 
51 
1,551 
892 
649 
498 
1,997 
1,188 
1,086 
2,072 
1,418 
1,470 
1,813 
974 
1,325 
676 
601 
232 
62 
830 

6,065 
75,  585 
69,  782 
74,  408 
88,  368 
84,  933 
74,  138 
58,  762 
78,  595 
77,  280 
75,  900 
76,  236 
74,  659 
57,  145 
82,  213 
82,  908 
82,  180 
82,  708 
80,  330 
81,712 

6.017 
74.  628 
69,  570 
73,  884 
88,258 
84,  860 
71,  137 
58,  732 
78,  570 
77,  280 
75,  872 
76,  J69 
74,  581 
57,  070 
8*2,  086 
82,  866 
82,  150 
82,  679 
80,  314 
81,  698 

48 
957 
206 
524 
110 
73 
1 
30 
25 

""28" 

67 
78 
75 
127 
42 
30 
29 
16 
14 

12,  514 
77,  926 
76,  698 
76,  498 
93,  242 
91,215 
79,  199 
62,  803 
83,  313 
83,  250 
80.  366 
83,774 
79,  834 
60,  313 
86,  120 
86,  092 
85,  261 
86,  915 
84,092 
85,  112 

6,017 
76,  918 
74,  941 
75,  082 
92,  483 
90,644 
77,  201 
61,  585 
82,  202 
81,  178 
78,  920 
82,  226 
77,  943 
59,  264 
84,  668 
85,  374 
84,  630 
86,  654 
84,  014 
84,268 

6,497 
1,008 
1,757 
1,416 
759 
571 
1,998 
1,218 
1,111 
2,072 
1,446 
1,537 
1,891 
1,049 
1,452 
718 
631 
261 
78 
844 

15,  314 
81,803 
81  819 
81,  987 
98,  139 
94,960 
83,  157 
67,810 
88,  519 
88,  321 
84,  779 
83,  774 
79,  834 
63,  295 
88,"861 
88,880 
88,085 
89,  092 
86,  270 
87,  392 

1871  

1872  . 

1873  
1874 

1875  . 

1876  

1877 

1878 

1879  

1880 

1881. 

1882 

1883  . 

2,982 
2,741 
2,788 
2,824 
2,177 
2,178 
2,280 

1884  
1885 

1886  . 

1887  

1888 

1889  

Total  . 

67,554 

90,  630 

64,796 

25,834 

1,463,907 

1,461,427 

2,480   1,554,537 

1,526,212 

28,314     1,622,091 

NOTE.— The  above  statement  includes  all  seals  killed  from  all  causes,  either  intentional  or  accidental, 
incident  to  the  taking  of  seal  skins  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul. 


318 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS. 


Fur  seals  killed  on   the  island  of  St.  (Icort/e.  for  <ill  put-pones,   from  1S70  to  1JS9,  both 

inclusive. 


Year. 


[Compiled  from  tables  on  tile  in  the  Treasury  Department. 
Seals  killed  for  natives'  food 


Seals  killed  for  skins     Total  of  bachelors  killi>. 
for  lessees.  accepted  and  rejected 


Grand 
total  of 

seals 

Skins      Skins      ,,„.,,        Skins     Skins       ,,...,.          Skins      Skins      f,)r  all 


1870 

rups. 

elors. 

ac- 
cepte 

1.  jected. 

elors. 

ited. 
"~>9 

re- 
jected. 

elors. 

cepted. 

re- 
jected. 

pur- 
poses. 

8  459 

1871 

"  u90 

237 

.>•{ 

- 

18  S30  1 

830 

19  007 

19  067 

•>1    157 

1872  
1873 

"  19o 

25.  000      2 
•),",  (JOO      '" 

.  ooo 
oOo 

25.  000 

25,  000 
"5  00(1 

27,  000 
''7  11K) 

1874 

2  440 

10  000  1 

Ooo 

10  000 

10  000 

}•>  446 

1875  
1870 

1.500 
1   500 

10.000  1 

10  ooo  K 

.  OOo 
000 

10.  000 
10  000 

10,000 

10    000 

1  1  ,  500 
1  1   500 

1877  
1878  
1879  
18so  
1881  
1882  

1  ,  500 
1,  5dO 
1  .  50(5 
L330 

1.532 
843 

812 
4  S3 

25 
1.  21 
5( 
5t 
5( 

0  ,  
0  1       310 
1          279 
5          137 
9           3(13 
1           112 

14,744  14 
17.772  17 
19.841  IS 
18,  9o7  I* 
19.440  1! 
19.495  H 

.  744 

.'758 
,  830 
,  300 
440 

83 

80 
35 

15.  000 
19.  304 

20.  084 
12.009 
20.  258 
19.  978 

15.  000 
18.988 

19!  395 

19.809 
1  9  8  1  1 

310 
302 
214 

389 
107 

10,500 
20,  804 
22,  190 
20.  939 
21.289 
19  978 

1883  

1.  0011 

475 

41 

14,739  14 

04 

15.  214 

15.  143 

71 

16,214 

1884  
1885  
1880  
1887  

1.  ;>00 
1,(  ISO 
1,280 
1.  350 

345 
319 

514 

585 

30 
41 
47 

3          1  22 
4            15 
3           131 
1           114 

14.  rJ8  14 
14.745  14 
14.0U6  11 
14.727  14 

.  020 

108 

59 

2S 

1;>,  0,3 
15,084 
15,  150 

15.  312 

14,  843 
14.990 
14,991 

15    190 

230 
74 

159 
116 

16,  573 
16,  144 
16,  436 
16  068 

1888  
1889  

978 
1.  071 

'  512 

1.  32 

2?-. 

1             88 
0          232 

14,047  14 
13.042  i: 

,  5>2 
,  641 

65 
1 

10,050 
14  154 

15.903 
13  9"! 

153 
233 

17,034 
15  225 

Total.. 

28,004 

9.  054 

7,19 

8      1.  *50 

318.  128    31' 

.  500 

028 

327.  182 

324.  Oll.s 

2,  484 

355.  246 

XOTE. — The  above  statement  includes  all  seals  killed  from  all  causes,  either  intentional  or  accidental, 
incident  to  tin-  taking  of  seal  skins  on  the  island  of  St.  George. 

Fur  seals  killed  on  tlie  islands  of  SI.  /'aid  «nd  St.  deonje,  for  (til  purposes,  from  1S70 

to  18S'>,  holh   inclusive. 


Seals  killed  for  natives'  food. 


Seals   killed   for  skins     Total  of  bachelors  killed, 

for  lessees.  accepted  and  rejected.       Grand 

total  ol 

'--          i^.  i_;|?_-       killed 

for  all 


— .  l    poses. 


St.  Paul  Island  . .  07.  554  90.  030  04,  7:KJ  25,  831  1.  4(i3,  9(i7  1.  401,  427    2,  480  1,  554.  537  1,  520.  212,28.  314  1,  022,  091 
St.  T.eor-e  Island.  2*.  001    9, 054    7.198    1.S50      318.128      317,500        02S      327.182      324, 098    2, 484      355.246 

Total 95.02s  99,084  71,  991  27,  790  1.  782.  035  1.  778.  927    3.  108  1  8*1,719  1,  850,  910'30,  798  1.977,337 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Seals  taken  on  St.  Paul  Island  in  1890. 


319 


Date. 

Rookery. 
Southwest  Bay                   

Total. 

Date. 

Rookery. 
Tolstoi.EnglishBay.MiddleHill 

Total. 

May  28 
June    6 
11 
13 
16 
17 
17 
18 
18 
20 
20 
21 
21 
23 
23 
24 
24 
25 
25 
26 
27 
27 
28 
28 
30 

30 
July    1 

2 
2 
3 
3 

119 

116 
574 
182 
317 
16 
167 
274 
78 
339 
438 
292 
96 
521 
179 
426 
205 
266 
166 
117 
396 
230 
206 
79 

209 
98 
246 
131 
242 
96 
183 
180 

July     4 
5 

7 

- 

8 
8 
9 
9 
10 
10 
12 

13 
13 
14 
15 

15 
16 

i? 

18 
18 
19 
19 
20 

20 

494 
321 
526 
74 

411 

336 
261 
379 
163 
271 
378 
112 

633 
211 
658 
104 

315 
245 

312 
372 
485 
405 
236 
556 
446 

780 
556 

17,124 

Reef 

do 

Reef                               

Tolstoi 

Northeast  Point 

Reef 

Knglisli  Hay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi,  Lukannon,  Ketova  

Northeast  Point                     

H'dlway  Point 

Northeast  Point                     .... 

Tolstoi  "ami  Middle  Hill 

Halfway  Point  

Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point    

Northeast  Point  

Southwest  Bay 

Reef 

Noithrast  Point                 ....... 

\ortheast  Point                 

English  I  Jay  and  Lukannon  
Northeast  Point 

English  Bay.  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi    Lukannon   Ketova      ... 

Reef  and  Zoltoi  

Halfwav  Point  

Halfway  Point 

Reef    

Norl  heast  Point  

English  Bay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi   Lukannon   Ketova 

Southwest  Bay 

English  Bay  and  Middle  Hill.  .  . 

Northeast  Point  

do 

Reef 

Polavina,  Lukannon,  Ketova... 
Northeast  Point  

Northeast  Point  

Tolstoi.  Middle    Hill,  English 
Bay,  Ketova  

do 

Zapadnie             

Reef  and  Zoltoi 

Reef  

Northeast  Point 

Northeast  Point  

English  Hay,  Middle  Hill,  Tol- 
stoi, Ketova.  Rocky  Point  
Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Northeast  Point  

Southwest  Bay  

Total 

Northeast  Point 

Seals  taken  on  St.  George  Island  in  1890. 


Date. 

Rookery. 

Total. 

Date. 

Rookery. 

Total. 

June    2 

North         

71 

July    8 

East  and  Little  East 

24 

16 

East  

218 

y    I 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

193 

18 

North 

118 

11 

East 

60 

19 

East  and  Little  East    .  ... 

181 

12 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

103 

20 

394 

14 

Zapadnie  ......      ............. 

53 

23 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

164 

15 

East 

132 

25 

East  and  Little  East  

184 

16 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

119 

28 

Starry  Arteel  and  North  

189 

18 

East  

71 

30 

Zapadnie                  .   .. 

189 

20 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

641 

July    1 

East  and  Little  East  

149 

20 

Zapadnie      ... 

527 

3 

Starry  Arteel  and  North 

238 

5 

East  and  Little  East  

57 

Total 

4  133 

7 

Zapadnie 

58 

320  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

PAST  AND  FUTURE  OF  THE  FUR  SEAL. ' 

BY   JOSEPH   STANLEY-BROWN. 

There  are  but  two  groups  of  fur  seals  to  furnish  to  the  world  its 
supply  of  seal  skins,  the  fur  seal  of  the  north  and  the  fur  seal  of  the 
south. 

When  Sir  Francis  Drake  circumnavigated  the  globe  in  1577-1580  the 
Arctocephalus,  or  southern  fur  seal,  was  to  be  found  at  not  less  than 
thirty  localities,  and  their  numbers  aggregated  millions.  To-day  the 
contributions  of  these  southern  waters  are  from  three  resorts,  and  do 
not  usually  reach  15,000  skins  annually. 

When  Vitus  Bering,  in  1741,  was  wrecked  upon  the  Commander 
Islands,  off  the  coast  of  Kamchatka,  and  Pribilof  searched  out,  in 
1786-87,  the  group  of  islands  in  Bering  Sea  that  bears  his  name,  there 
were  discovered,  not  only  the  chief  breeding  grounds  of  the  northern 
fur  seal,  Caltorhinus  ursinus^  but  some  of  the  most  superb  seal  rookeries 
the  world  has  ever  known.  It  is  questionable  if  mortal  vision  ever 
rested  upon  more  magnificent  displays  of  amphibian  life  than  were  to 
be  seen  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul  at  the  time  of  its  discovery.  To-day 
these  subarctic  resorts  are  prostrate;  their  glory  also  has  departed,  and 
they  furnish  a  home  for  but  a  mere  remnant  of  the  seals  that  formerly 
swarmed  in  myriads  along  their  rocky  shores. 

For  two  years  the  hopes  of  thoughtful  persons  were  high,  that  through 
the  medium  of  international  negotiations  and  the  deliberations  of  wise 
and  able  men  the  safety  of  the  fur  seal  would  be  at  last  secured.  To-day, 
when  the  decision  of  the  Paris  Tribunal  is  common  property,  we  find 
public  opinion  divided  on  the  question  as  to  whether  the  practical  appli- 
cation of  the  decision  will  preserve  the  fur  seal  as  a  commercial  com- 
modity. 

CHARACTERISTICS   OF   THE    SEAL. 

The  condition  of  affairs  thus  briefly  outlined  is  all  the  more  deplorable 
when  we  consider  the  characteristics  of  the  animal  with  which  we  are 
dealing.  It  is  a  creature  peculiarly  adapted  by  its  habits  to  man's  man- 
agement. It  occupies  no  territory  needed,  as  were  the  buffalo's  feeding 
grounds,  for  the  subsistence  of  more  valuable  domestic  animals;  no 
herders  are  required  to  prevent  its  being  lost  in  the  wastes  of  the  ocean, 
and  no  expense  is  incurred  either  to  protect  it  from  the  inclemency 
of  the  weather  or  to  provide  a  winter  food  supply;  yet  with  more  cer- 
tainty than  the  ranchman's  flocks  and  herds  seek  the  home  range  do  the 
seals  annually  return  to  their  breeding  grounds  where,  under  proper 
management,  they  can  without  injury  to  the  parent  stock  be  made  to 
yield  a  profit  equal  to  if  not  greater  than  that  derived  from  the  cattle 
of  the  plains  or  the  sheep  of  the  mountains. 

THE   SOUTHERN  FUR  SEAL  AND  ITS  DESTRUCTION. 

Despite  these  characteristics,  which  must  have  been  apparent  to  the 
most  ignorant  and  unobservant,  what  has  been  the  course  of  events? 
Turning  first  to  the  fur  seal  of  the  south  we  find  that  as  early  as  1690 
some  little  interest  was  manifested  in  its  capture,  but  it  was  not  until 
the  close  of  the  last  century  that  the  pursuit  was  begun  in  earnest. 
Hardy  mariners,  stimulated  by  the  hope  of  sharing  in  the  profits  of  the 

'From  Bulletin  United  States  Fish  Commision,  1893,  pp.  361-370. 


SKAL    LIFK    ON    THK     1'KWILOF    ISLANDS.  321 

fur  trade  which  the  Russians  had  developed  with  the  Chinese,  searched 
out  the  resorts  of  the  southern  fur  seal;  ravaged  them  year  after  year, 
in  season  and  out  of  season;  slaughtered  the  helpless  creatures  with 
clubs  on  land  regardless  of  age  or  sex;  gathered  a  harvest  of  Hi, 000, 000 
or  17,000,000  skins,  and  by  1830  had  practically  destroyed,  in  the  south- 
ern seas,  this  valuable  fur  hearing  animal.  If  all  these  resorts  were  in 
their  original  condition  and  under  wise  and  prudent  direction,  they  could 
easily  supply  to  the  fur  trade  annually  so  .nothing  like  a  half  a  million 
skins,  with  corresponding  advantage  to  an  army  of  skilled  ai  tisans.  As 
it  is,  indiscriminate  butchery  has  left  only  the  Lobos  Islands  rookeries 
at  the  mouth  of  the  La  Plata  River  and  a  few  insignificant  resorts  at 
Cape  Horn  and  the  Cape  of  (lood  Hope,  the  total  yearly  yield  of  which 
is,  as  before  stated,  less  than  15,000  skins.  Such  destruction  is  left  abso- 
lutely without  justiticatiori  in  the  face  of  man's  entire  ability  to  maintain, 
the  fur  seal  rookeries  at  the  highest  possible  limits  permitted  by  the 
operation  of  nature's  restrictions,  or  when  depleted  to  develop  them 
again.  This  is  not  idle  speculation,  but  rests  upon  a  firm  foundation  of 
fact  furnished  by  the  history  of  the  fur  seal  of  the  north. 

THE  NORTHERN  FUR  SEAL  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO  THE  SEAL-SKIN 

INDUSTRY. 

The  two  great  resorts  of  the  northern  fur  seal  are  the  Pribilof  and 
Commander  islands  in  Bering  Sea.  Kobbeiis  Reel;  a  rocky  islet  in  the 
Okhotsk  Sea,  has  a  small  rookery,  and  a  few  localities  of  minor  impor- 
tance are  found  along  the  Kurile  Islands.  While  the  Kussians  who 
first  discovered  these  resorts  prohibited  all  interference  from  outsiders, 
their  own  treatment  of  the  seals  was  similar  to  that  practiced  by  the 
sailors  in  the  south.  Xo  attention  was  paid  to  sex,  season,  or  period  of 
procreation,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  end  came  there  just  as  it  had 
done  in  the  south.  The  Kussians  were  taught  by  this  severe  lesson 
that  the  only  way  in  which  the  rookeries  could  be  restored  and  per- 
petuated was  to  protect  the  females  from  death  and  the  breeding 
grounds  from  molestation.  This  course,  accompanied  by  practically  a 
suspension  of  killing  during  certain  years,  was  rigidly  adhered  to,  with 
the  result  that  when  the  rookeries  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  were  turned 
over  to  the  United  States  in  18(17  their  condition,  instead  of  being  one 
of  exhaustion,  approximated  that  which  existed  when  they  were  first 
discovered.  The  truth  of  this  will  be  more  apparent  when  it  is  stated 
that  in  1808,  before  the  United  States  could  assume  and  exercise  con- 
trol over  its  newly  acquired  possessions,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million 
skins  were  improperly  taken  from  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George 
by  unauthorized  persons  without  apparently  producing  any  diminution 
of  the  numbers  which  came  the  following  year. 

Although  there  are  but  four  of  these  northern  localities,  and  Kussian 
mismanagement  from  time  to  time  played  such  havoc  with  them  that 
the  catch  was  an  uncertain  quantity,  still  they  have  contributed  since 
their  discovery  between  ,">,000,000  and  6,000,000  skins  to  the  fur  trade, 
or  abmit  one-third  as  many  as  have  been  furnished  by  the  southern 
resorts.  From  the  time  that  the  fur  seal  of  the  south  ceased  to  be  of 
commercial  importance  trade  lias  relied  upon  these  rookeries.  Thanks 
to  the  more  enlightened  policy  employed  by  the  Russians,  and  adopted 
and  improved  upon  by  the  United  States,  these  rookeries  of  Bering 
Sea  contributed  to  commerce  for  the  twenty  years  ending  with  1881)  a 
uniform  yearly  quota  of  nearly  150,000  pelts,  which  formed  the  basis 
of  and  made  possible  the  systematized  seal-skin  business  of  modern 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 21 


322  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

times.  As  a  raw  commodity  they  sold  for  an  average  of  8-, 500, 000  at 
the  annual  London  trade  sales,  and  the  Pribi lot' quota  yielded  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  in  revenue  more  than  the  $7,200,000 
originally  paid  for  the  entire  Territory  of  Alaska.  The  value  of  raw 
seal  skins  is  now  represented  by  about  $15  for  skins  taken  at  sea  and 
$30  for  Pribilof  skins.  At  the  present  revenue  rate,  if  it  were  now 
possible  to  take  from  the  Pribilof  Islands  the  former  yearly  quota,  the 
Government  income  would  be  nearly  $1,000,000  annually. 

IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    SEAL-SKIN    INDUSTRY. 

The  seal-skin  industry  is  of  no  slight  importance,  and  its  proportions 
are  but  roughly  indicated  by  the  lirst  profit  on  the  raw  skins.  These 
peltries  must  be  gathered  in  remote  regions;  they  form  part  ot  the 
transportation  business  of  railroad  and  steamship  lines;  coopers  must 
make  casks  for  their  shipment;  they  must  pass  through  the  hands  of 
many  laborers  before  they  reach  the  40  buyers  in  London  who  purchase 
them,  and  the  2,000  skilled  artisans  who  convert  them  into  fabrics 
suited  to  the  use  of  trade;  and  when  all  this  is  done  there  must  still  be 
stores  maintained  and  clerks  employed  in  order  that  they  may  find 
their  way  to  the  wealthy  consumers.  The  labor  incident  to  the  taking, 
transporting,  manipulating,  and  disposing  of  these  peltries  demands 
the  employment  of  thousands  of  persons  each  year,  and  when  we  recall 
the  prices  paid  for  these  skins  when  converted  into  the  garments  dic- 
tated by  fashion,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  it  is  an  industry  the  ulti- 
mate value  of  which  is  represented  by  millions  of  dollars  annually. 
Above  all  it  is  a  peculiarly  worthy  industry,  in  that  it  gives  occupation 
to  many,  while  the  profits  come  from  the  purses  of  those  best  able  to 
pay  them. 

CAUSE   OF   THE   DESTRUCTION    OF   THE   NORTHERN   FUR   SEAL. 

Some  ten  years  ago  there  was  put  in  operation  on  the  American  side 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean  an  agency  of  destruction,  the  growth  of  which,  if 
uninterrupted,  promised  to  prove  as  effective  as  did  the  sailors'  clubs 
upon  the  southern  resorts.  Its  promise  has  been  generously  kept,  and 
from  its  deadly  though  partially  controlled  effects  the  rookeries  are 
now  suffering.  That  agency  was  pelagic  sealing,  or  the  taking  of  seals 
at  sea  by  means  of  weapons.  The  source  of  the  injury  is  the  indis- 
criminate killing.  Whether  this  is  practiced  on  land,  as  in  the  south, 
or  at  sea,  as  in  the  north,  the  outcome  is  the  same.  No  animal  which 
produces  but  a  single  offspring  each  year  can  long  survive  an  attack 
which  involves  the  death  of  the  producing  class,  the  females.  I  am 
aware  that  there  is  another  side  to  this  question,  and  that  two  great 
nations  point  each  a  finger  at  the  other  and  say:  "You  did  it."  The 
subject-matter  of  that  contention  is  only  germane  to  such  a  paper  as 
this  in  so  far  as  it  touches  upon  the  career  of  the  seal,  and  only  to  that 
extent  will  it  be  referred  to. 

England  and  Canada  hold  the  theory  (which,  in  justice  to  them, 
should  be  stated)  that  the  decline  of  the  northern  rookeries  was  due  to 
excessive  killing  on  the  islands,  pelagic  sealing  being  a  factor  of  only 
secondary  importance.  If  this  theory  meant  that  after  pelagic  sealing 
had  made  serious  inroads  upon  the  seal  herds  it  was  excessive  killing 
to  continue  taking  the  annual  quota  of  100,000  skins,  it  would  be  a 
sound  one,  and  the  United  States  would  be  culpable  to  that  extent, 
but  England  and  Canada  would  not  accept  this  limitation ;  they  want 
it  to  account  for  much  more.  They  fail,  however,  to  sustain  their 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  323 

theory  until  they  show  by  clearest  proof  that  the  decline  of  the  rook- 
eries begai)  prior  to  the  development  of  pelagic  sealing,  and  also  get 
rid  of  the  awkward  fact  that  for  the  first  twelve  or  fifteen  years  there 
was  no  difficulty  in  securing :  the  annual  quota  allowed  bylaw.  Why 
did  this  alleged  decadence  through  excessive  killing  on  land  take  so 
long  to  manifest  itself?  Certainly  the  evils  of  indiscrimination  is  not 
inherent  in  land  killing;  on  the  contrary,  selection  can  be  exercised  at 
the  rookeries  as  readily  as  it  ran  be  at  the  abattoir,  and  there  is  no 
more  necessity  for  molesting  the  females  than  there  would  be  for  a 
farmer  to  ship  fill  of  his  herd  to  Kansas  City  and  have  the  selection  of 
the  killable  males  made  at  the  stock  yards.  The  briefest  recital  of  the 
facts  of  seal  life  will  make  this  plain. 

THE   FACTS   OF    SEAL   LIFE. 

The  northern  fur  seals,  unlike  their  southern  relatives,  are  forced  each 
year  by  Arctic  cold  and  the  necessity  for  food  to  leave  their  homes  on 
the  approach  of  winter  and  to  seek  the  southern  waters  and  the  abun- 
dant fish  supply  along  the  continental  shores.  The  migration  routes 
of  the  Alaskan  and  Asiatic  herds  do  not  coalesce,  nor  do  the  seals 
intermingle.  Late  in  April  or  early  in  May,  depending  upon  the  char- 
acter of  the  season,  the  breeding  males,  bulls,  or  "  seecatchie,"  first 
return  to  their  resorts  from  this  migration.  About  a  month  later  the 
mature  females  or  u  matkie''  begin  to  seek  the  breeding  grounds,  and 
between  the  time  of  arrival  of  these  two  classes  the  young  males  or 
u  hollustchikie"  are  swimming  in  the  water  near  the  rookery  fronts  or 
hauling  out  upon  the  hauling  grounds  some  distance  away  from  the 
areas  occupied  by  the  mature  seals.  The  young  males  are  not  permit- 
ted to  gather  upon  the  breeding  grounds  until,  by  reason  of  age  and 
strength,  they  are  able  to  maintain  a  position  there. 

Each  old  bull  when  he  arrives  in  the  spring  selects  and  maintains, 
often  by  desperate  combat,  a  little  area  upon  which  he  hopes  to  estab- 
lish his  household.  The  male  weighs  four  or  five  times  as  much  as  his 
consort,  and,  as  is  usually  the  case  where  the  male  preponderates  in 
size,  they  are  extremely  polygamous.  Their  vitality  and  virility  is 
almost  beyond  belief.  For  eighty  or  ninety  days,  while  they  are  mak- 
ing secure  their  position,  and  while  guarding  and  presiding  over  their 
families  or  "  harems/'  they  are  debarred  from  both  food  and  water. 
When  the  season  of  propagation  is  past  they  again  betake  themselves 
to  the  sea,  and  the  breeding  grounds  are  given  up  to  the  intermingling 
of  young  males,  females,  and  pups,  but  during  that  eighty  or  ninety 
days  the  immature  males  from  1  to  5  years  of  age  have  been  compelled 
to  consort  together  upon  the  hauling  grounds,  and  thus  there  is  given 
an  opportunity  without  in  any  way  interfering  with  the  course  of  events 
upon  the  breeding  grounds,  to  drive  away,  select,  and  slaughter  such 
of  these  young  males  as  will  furnish  desirable  pelts.  These  are  the 
only  skins  shipped  from  the  islands. 

Can  anyone  successfully  maintain  that  in  the  case  of  polygamous 
animals  the  taking  of  the  surplus  male  life  and  reserving  the  females 
can  destroy  the  herd?  If  this  can  be  demonstrated,  then  our  stock- 
raisers  are  at  fault,  and  the  evidence  derived  from  Russian  manage- 
ment goes  for  naught. 

THE  FACTS  OF   PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Before  the  breath  of  life  can  be  breathed  into  this  theory  of  decadence 
through  excessive  killing  on  the  islands  there  must  be  removed  from 


324  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THK    I'KIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Jfche  record  books  certain  well  established  tacts  concerning-  pelagic  seal- 
ing. It  will  be  necessary  to  dispose  of  the  tact  that  while  in  1878  there 
was  but  I  vessel  engaged  in  pelagic,  sealing,  the  number  steadily 
increased  until  in  181)2  there  were  ll'2  to  follow  on  the  migration  tracks 
of  the  herds,  to  harry  them  eight  months  out  of  the  twelve,  and,  if 
permitted,  to  accompany  them  to  and  even  upon  their  chosen  resorts. 
There  must  also  be  a  successful  refutation  of  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
loss  of  at  least  10  per  cent  inherent  in  the  methods  of  taking  seals  at 
sea;  that  pelagic  sealing  strikes  at  the  very  life  of  the  rookeries,  by 
killing  7t>  or  80  per  cent  of  the  females,  more  than  half  of  which  are 
mothers  whose  death  involves  that  of  their  unborn  offspring;  and  that 
the  period  of  gestation  being  nearly  twelve  months,  a  mother  killed  in 
Bering  Sea  means  that  three  seal  lives  may  pay  the  penalty. 

It  is  equally  important  to  the  maintenance  of  this  theory  that  there 
be  an  elimination  of  the  fact  that  during  the  four  seasons,  ending  with 
the  past  one  of  1803,  there  were  taken  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  only  a 
total  of  50.000  skins  of  young  males,  while  during  that  same  period 
there  were  actually  marketed  by  the  sealers  over  200,000  skins,  which 
represented  only  about,  half  the  injury  done  the  seal  herds,  an  injury 
falling  heaviest  upon  the  producing  class,  the  females.  For  four  years 
there  has  been  practically  a  closed  time  on  these  islands,  and  pelagic 
sealing  has  had  full  swing  in  the  .North  Tacific.  The  rookeries  have- 
not  improved  under  these  conditions,  and  until  the  records  of  the  real 
cause  of  destruction  stand  impeached  it  is  idle  to  offer  obscure  and 
improbable  explanations  for  the  present  condition  of  seal  life. 

It  has  only  been  profitable  to  follow  this  question  of  the  cause  of  the 
decadence  to  indicate  what  might  be  expected  from  pelagic  sealing. 
Whenever  and  to  whatever  extent  carried  on,  its  deadly  effects  are  cer- 
tain and  continuous,  the  amount  of  injury  being  limited  only  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  enterprise.  Improprieties  on  land  can  be  guarded 
against,  but  the  disastrous  consequences  of  pelagic  sealing  are  inherent 
to  the  business  and  are  beyond  man's  control.  They  can  be  lessened, 
tmt  only  through  the  curtailment  of  the  number  of  seals  taken.  The 
injurious  effect  upon  the  herd,  while  proportionately  less,  remains  a  con- 
stant factor. 

In  following  the  career  of  an  animal  possessing  such  capacity  for 
self-perpetuation  and  ready  adaptability  to  the  uses  of  man,  the  student 
of  natural  history  or  of  economics  is  struck  by  the  wanton  and  needless 
destruction  which  pursues  it  wherever  found.  As  to  its  future  he  turns, 
for  what  comfort  he  may  be  able  to  extract,  to  the  decision  of  that  court 
of  recent  if  not  last  resort — the  Paris  Tribunal  of  Arbitration. 

THE  PARIS  TRIBUNAL   OF   ARBITRATION. 

The  causes  which  led  to  the  arbitration  are  known  to  all.  For  some 
years  the  Alaskan  fur  seal,  when  on  its  migration  route,  had  been 
the  eagerly  sought  quarry  of  the  pelagic  hunters.  This  route,  which 
by  reason  ot  its  vast  extent  and  proximity  to  inhabited  shores  makes 
this  herd  especially  vulnerable  to  attack,  extends  from  the  Pribilof 
Islands  southward  through  the  passes  of  the  Aleutian  chain,  expands 
in  the  broad  Pacific,  but  ultimately  brings  the  seals  in  more  compact 
masses  to  the  North  American  Coast,  and  thence  along  its  shores, back 
through  the  passes,  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  again.  Realizing  the  peril 
of  the  rookeries,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  attempted  to 
partially  protect  them  by  seizing  sealing  schooners  in  Bering  Sea. 
Each  year  it  was  thought  that  at  least  so  far  as  these  waters  were  con- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THK    PKU5ILOF    ISLANDS.  325 

cerned  the  dauber  would  cease,  but  each  year  it  increased  as  the  vessels 
multiplied  ami  the  skill  and  knowledge  of  the  sealers  became  greater, 
and  was  ultimately  extended  to  the  Asiatic  herd  which  frequents  the 
Russian  or  Commander  Islands.  The  continued  seizing  of  schooners 
by  the  Cuited  States  met  with  remonstrances  on  the  part  of  Canada, 
aiid  Kugland.  and  finally,  after  much  irritation  and  heat,  became  the 
subject  of  diplomatic  negotiation*,  the  peaceful  outcome  of  which  was 
the  Paris  Tribunal  of  Arbitration. 

Turee  duties  were  intrusted  to  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration  :  It  was  to 
settle  certain  jurisdictional  questions,  to  decide  the  questiou  of  property 
rights,  and  in  the  event  of  the  matter  being-  left  in  such  shape  that  the 
concurrence  of  Great  Britain  was  necessary  to  establish  regulations  for 
the  purpose  of  protecting  and  preserving  the  fur  seal,  it  was  to  frame 
such  regulations  as  would  be  applicable  outside  of  the  jurisdiction  o£" 
the  respective  Governments  and  to  indicate  the  uon  territorial  waters* 
over  which  these  regulations  should  extend.  As  it  is  not  important  inr 
this  connection  to  consider  the  jurisdictional  phases  of  the  case  there 
will  betaken  up  at  once  the  property  question  and  the  regulations — the 
two  points  that  immediately  concern  us;  the  former  from  the  stand- 
point of  general  interest,  and  the  latter  by  reason  of  their  iutiutatfe 
relation  to  the  future  of  the  seals. 

THE    AMERICAN    POSITION. 

The  able  representatives  of  the  United  States  took  the  position  that 
the  tribunal  was  bound  by  no  precedents,  and  possessed,  by  virtue  of  its 
very  origin,  a  creative  as  well  as  a  judicial  function.  They  urged  upon 
the  tribunal  the  taking  of  high  ground  and  the  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion upon  broad  and  comprehensive  principles.  They  pointed  out  that 
man,  by  means  of  invention,  was  rapidly  extending  his  dominion  over 
the  water,  as  he  had  over  the  land,  and,  by  employing  methods  which 
were  not  even  dreamed  of  when  many  existing  municipal  and  inter- 
national laws  were  enacted,  threatened  the  very  existence  of  many 
creatures  useful  to  man.  Turning  from  the  citations  of  voluminous- 
authorities  vindicating  the  justness  of  their  claim  of  property  right  im 
the  seals  and  in  the  industry,  they  pleaded  with  sturdy  argument  and 
great  eloquence  that  the  tribunal  would  fail  of  its  high  duty  did  it  not 
lend  its  aid  to  such  an  extension  of  the  world's  idea  of  property  right  as 
was  needed  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  advancing  age.  They  asked 
that  the  narrow  ground  be  not  taken  that  this  great  tribunal  was  called 
into  existence  solely  for  the  purpose  of  settling  a  dispute  between  two 
nations,  but  that  it  was  given  an  opportunity  and  was  vested  with  the 
power  to  make  a  substantial  contribution  to  international  law.  and  that 
its  verdict,  while  disposing  of  the  immediate  matter  in  dispute,  should 
be  such  a  formulation,  upon  broader  lines,  of  our  conception  of  rights  off 
property  and  of  protection  as  would  be  of  value  to  all  mankind,  irre^ 
spective  of  nations.  They  pointed  out  that  the  material  progress  of 
the  world  was  based  upon  the  fundamental  principle  of  ownership,  and 
that  the  most  effective  way  of  preventing  the  commercial  annihilation 
of  certain  great  groups  of  creatures  was  by  lodging  in  the  nation  best 
qualified  by  its  geographic  position  to  protect  them  a  custodianship,  to> 
be  exercised  over  them  for  the  benefit  of  all.  It  was  shown  that  the 
adoption  of  this  principle  would  dispose  of  the  question  of  the  relation 
of  other  governments  to  the  subject;  would  make  possible  the  rehabili- 
tation of  many  of  the  seal  rookeries  of  the  south:  that  it  would  protect 
such  industries  as  the  coral  and  pearl  fisheries,  and  that  it  would  be 


326  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

useful  in  controlling  the  rapid  inroads  man's  ingenuity  is  now  making 
on  the  denizens  of  the  sea.  In  short,  that  it  would  be  a  direct,  useful, 
and  common-sense  way  of  settling  the  whole  matter. 

THE   BRITISH    POSITION. 

With  equal  skill  of  argument  and  eloquence  of  address  the  advo- 
cates of  Great  Britain  and  Canada  held  that  the  tribunal  possessed  but 
one  function — that  its  duty  was  to  declare  the  law  and  not  to  make  it; 
but  that,  whatever  its  function  might  be  as  an  international  body,  it  was 
not  vested  with  the  power  to  make  international  law,  but  must  keep  to 
the  straight  and  narrow  way  of  settling  a  contention  between  two 
nations  and  adjusting  two  conflicting  methods  of  catching  seals.  They 
asked  that  the  tribunal  provide  for  the  continuation  of  pelagic  sealing 
under  the  most  favorable  conditions  consistent  with  carrying  out  the 
terms  of  the  treaty.  True,  nothing  was  said  in  the  treaty  about  preserv- 
ing the  business  of  pelagic  sealing,  but  before  so  patient  and  generous 
a  court  it  was  not  difficult  to  confuse  the  issue  of  preserving  the  seals 
and  continuing  pelagic  sealing  and  to  take  up  a  large  share  of  the  pro- 
ceedings with  pleadings  in  behalf  of  the  latter.  They  demanded  that 
the  question  of  property  right  be  settled  from  the  standpoint  that  the 
seals  were  wild  animals,  which  man  could  only  reduce  to  possession  by 
destroying.  They  insisted  that  the  law  relating  to  wild  animals,  regard- 
less of  its  origin,  had  been  accepted  by  nations  as  the  years  ran  on;  it 
was  very  old  law  and  very  good  law;  but,  whether  ^ood  or  bad,  it  was 
the  law,  and  from  its  teachings  the  tribunal  must  not  allow  itself  to  be 
enticed  away  by  the  seductive  citations  and  insidious  arguments  of 
learned  counsel  on  the  other  side.  There  must  be  no  making  of  laws  to 
suit  new  conditions;  the  old  stand-bys  must  be  adhered  to,  whether 
applicable  or  not.  They  urged  that  the  seals  being  wild  animals,  the 
United  States  had  done  nothing  to  encourage  or  develop  in  them  the 
animum  revertendi — the  inclination  to  return  to  their  homes,  as  in  the 
case  of  bees  and  similar  creatures — and  thus  had  lost  their  claim  to  a 
property  in  them,  and  if  the  world  or  a  part  of  it  desired  to  turn  out 
in  boats  and  to  destroy  the  industry  by  shooting  the  seals  in  the  water 
they  had  a  perfect  right  to  do  so,  for  a  wild  animal  was  free  to  all.  No 
matter  if  seal  mothers  roaming  the  sea  for  food  did  fall  before  the  gun 
or  spear  of  the  pelagic  hunter  and  their  helpless  pups  starve  on  the 
rookeries,  the  hand  of  destruction  must  not  be  stayed,  for  the  Tnited 
States  had  no  rights  anyone  was  bound  legally  to  respect  when  the 
seals  were  3  miles  off  shore,  and  humanitarian  considerations  had  no 
place  in  the  controversy.  They  insisted  that  the  tribunal  had  no  author- 
ity in  law  to  declare  a  property  right  in  the  seals  or  in  the  industry,  but 
if  the  tribunal  contemplated  disregarding  the  law  and  settling  this 
question  on  lines  of  their  own  choosing  they  must  refrain  from  doing 
so,  because  it  would  interfere  with  that  wonderful  invention,  the  imme- 
morial right  on  the  high  seas,  an  interference  nations  not  only  would 
not  brook, but  which  they  would  actively  resent. 

THE  TRIBUNAL'S  DECISION. 

The  tribunal,  true  to  the  conservatism  of  the  Old  World,  accepted 
this  interpretation  of  their  powers,  recognized  the  potency  of  venerable 
legal  relics,  assented  to  the  arguments  of  the  counsel  for  (ireat  Britain 
and  Canada  based  thereon,  and  contented  itself  with  deciding  that  the 
United  States  had  no  right  of  protection  or  property  in  the  fur  seals. 


SEAL    LIFK    OX    THE    I'KIP.ILOF    ISLANDS.  327 


TIIK    Kl-:<}  TLATIONS. 

The  next  task  to  which  the  tribunal  addressed  itself  was  the  fram- 
ing of  regulations.  These  regulations  furnish  the  last  hope  for  the 
preservation  of  the  fur  seal  as  a  commercial  commodity.  It  is  not 
probable  that  any  other  nations  having  seal  interests  will  be  content 
with  less  than  the  United  States  secured,  nor  is  it  likely  they  will 
obtain  more,  and  thus  they  represent  the  measure  of  protection  all 
seals  are  likely  to  receive  in  the  future. 

After  listening  to  an  enormous  mass  of  testimony — some  good,  some 
bad,  and  some  very  indifferent — concerning  seal  life,  the  tribunal  pro- 
poses to  preserve  the  Alaskan  branch  of  the  northern  fur  seal  by  pro- 
hibiting sealing  within  a  /one  of  GO  miles  around  the  Pribilof  Islands 
by  establishing  a  closed  time,  or  time  of  no  killing  at  sea,  from  May  1 
to  .July  31 ;  by  permitting  only  sailing  vessels  to  engage  in  the  business 
of  seal  hunting,  and  requiring  them  to  carry  a  distinctive  tiag,  to  take 
out  a  special  license,  and  to  keep  a  daily  record  of  the  catch  and  the  sex 
of  the  seals  taken,  these  records  to  be  communicated  to  each  of  the 
two  (lovernments  at  the.  close  of  the  sealing  season;  by  limiting  the 
weapons  of  capture  to  shotguns  in  the  North  Pacific  and  spears  in 
Bering  Sea,  and  by  requiring  the  two  Governments  to  take  such  meas- 
ures as  will  determine  whether  the  hunters  are  fit  to  handle  with  suffi- 
cient skill  the  weapons  by  means  of  which  the  seals  are  to  be  captured. 
These  regulations,  which  are  to  remain  in  force  until  they  have  been  in 
whole  or  in  part  abolished  or  modified  by  common  agreement  between 
the  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  are  to  be  sub 
mitted  every  five  years  to  a  new  examination,  so  as  to  enable  both 
Governments  to  consider  whether,  in  the  light  of  past  experience,  there 
is  occasion  for  any  modification  of  them. 

The  three  prime  points  in  the  regulations  are:  The  zone  around  the 
islands;  the  closed  time  of  three  months  injected  into  the  middle  of  the 
sealing  season,  thus  breaking  it  up,  and  the  restriction  of  the  use  of 
firearms  to  the  North  Pacific. 

First  as  to  the  zone:  If  there  was  any  one  fact  clearly  established  by 
the  testimony  of  the  pelagic  sealers  themselves  and  official  experts  it 
was  that  in  the  summer  season  great  numbers  of  seals,  and  especially 
females,  are  found  at  long  distances  from  the  islands  of  Bering  Sea, 
distances  two  or  three  times  greater  than  that  of  the  protecting  /one 
provided  by  the  regulations.  Now,  as  the  object  was  to  preserve  the 
fur  seals,  it  is  proper  to  assume  that  the  tribunal,  prompted  by  a  desire 
to  protect  them,  and  acting  in  good  faith,  established  such  a  /one  as 
they  believed  would  practically  prohibit  the  attack  of  the  pelagic  sealer; 
but  if  this  was  so,  then  mere  amount  of  distance  was  immaterial,  and 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  incessant  fogs  brood  over  the  waters  of  Bering 
Sea  during  the  summer  season,  rendering  it  difficult  to  tell  when  a  vessel 
is  within  or  without  a  /one,  the  limit  of  which  can  not  be  marked,  why 
not  at  once  adopt  that  natural  and  well-defined  boundary  line,  the 
Aleutian  chain?  .lust  here  arises  the  question:  When  vessels  are 
sei/ed,  whose  word  shall  be  accepted  as  to  the  locality  of  seizure — the 
pelagic  sealer's  or  the  seizing  officer's  ?  Does  not  this  uncertainty,  hav- 
ing ns  it  does  an  important  bearing  on  the  question  of  conviction,  weaken 
the  regulations  restraining  influence  on  pelagic  sealing?  Aside  from 
questions  of  protection  it  seems  to  me  that  this  part  of  the  decision  will 
tend  to  increase  dispute  and  bitterness  rather  than  to  diminish  it. 

The  adoption  of  the  closed  time  means  the  recognition  on  the  part  of 


3'JX  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIHILOF    ISLANDS. 

the  tribunal  that  the  destruction  by  the  pelagic  sealer  has  been  exces- 
sive, and  the  cutting  off  of  one  month  of  the  sealing  season  in  Bering 
Sea  clearly  shows  that  it  reali/ed  the  danger  to  the  herd  from  allowing 
sealing  there.  Why,  then,  was  sealing  not  prohibited  altogether  in 
those  waters?  Is  the  danger  less  in  August  and  a  portion  of  Septem- 
ber f  The  seals  are  still  going  long  distances  from  the  islands  and  the 
sealer  can  continue  his  work  until  stopped  by  the  September  gales. 
Bering  Sea  is  the  focal  point,  the  great  massing  ground  of  seal  lite,  and 
the  seals  are  more  readily  taken  there  than  anywhere  else.  In  18!>1  the 
catch  of  the  Canadian  Meet  in  the  North  Pacific  was  a  little  over  1*1,000 
seals,  and  before  the  modus  vivendi  could  be  enforced  a  portion  of  the 
Meet  sealed  from  three  to  five  weeks  on  the  American  side  of  Boring  Sea, 
and  with  fewer  vessels  and  with  fewer  small  boats  they  took  in  that  time 
as  many  seals  as  they  had  previously  secured  in  the  Pacific.  During 
the  three  years  ending  with  and  including  181)1  the  Canadian  neet  (and 
I  only  rjnote  from  Canadian  records,  because  they  are  so  reliable)  took, 
in  five  months,  in  the  North  Pacific,  an  average  of  507  skins  per  vessel; 
with  ten  vessels  less,  they  took  in  Bering  Sea  727  skins  per  vessel  in 
about  two  and  one-half  months. 

The  proposed  regulations  still  allow  at  least  five  weeks'  sealing  in 
Bering  Sea;  but,  say  the  regulations,  the  hunters  can  only  use  spears 
in  Bering  Sea,  thereby  intimating  that  spears  are  less  effective  than  the 
shotguns  allowed  in  the  North  Pacific,  and  that  an  additional  safeguard 
has  therefore  been  provided  in  Bering  Sea.  .lust  why  the  shotgun  is 
pernicious  in  Bering  Sea  and  is  not  in  the  North  Pacific  is  not  indicated: 
but  if  we  turn  to  the  testimony  of  the  Northwest  Coast  Indians,  who 
ship  on  the  schooners  and  accompany  them  to  Bering  Sea,  we  find  that 
they  claim  that  they  can  do  better  work  with  the  spear  than  with  the 
shotgun.  The  latter  makes  the  <rame  wild,  while  the  former  does  not. 
The  spear  makes  no  noise,  and  they  are  thus  able  to  take  seal  after  seal 
as  they  sleep  on  the  water,  and  get  all  in  sight,  while  at  the  sound  of  a 
gun's  discharge  the  comrades  of  the  captured  or  wounded  seal  swim 
away. 

It  is  evident  from  an  inspection  of  these  regulations  as  a  whole  that 
the  tribunal,  taking  into  account  the  interests  of  both  nations,  endeavored 
to  fr.uue  measures  which,  while  protecting  the  seals,  would  permit  the 
continuation  of  pelagic  sealing.  This  seems  to  me  a  task  the  accom- 
plishment of  which  is  an  impossibility.  The  evils  of  pelagic  sealing 
appear  to  have  been  clearly  recognized  by  the  tribunal,  but  instead  of 
adopting  prohibitive  measures  it  took  the  middle  course  of  throwing 
some  protection  around  the  seals,  and  while  at  the  same  time  appearing 
to  concede  something  to  the  pelagic  sealers,  made  the  conditions  just 
sufficiently  hard  as  to  prevent  them  from  engaging  successfully  in  the 
business.  lr  is  admitted  that  these  regulations  possess  value  in  limit- 
ing and  discouraging  pelagic  sealing,  but  their  inherent  weakness  is 
that  while  they  nosv  seem  to  possess  some  deterring  power,  changed 
conditions  may  at  any  time  arise  which  will  negative  their  influence 
and  offer  inducements  sufficient  to  enable  the  sealers  to  again  engage 
in  this  business  on  a  large  and  injurious  scale.  This  contingency  is 
not  so  remote  as  may  appear  at  first  sight.  In  1SSJ)  the  average  price 
paid  in  Victoria  for  skins  taken  at  sea  was  $i;.S:i;  in  1S1IO  it  had  risen 
to  *1<>.7<);  in  is'H  ir  was  >?l."i.  In  1SSO  the  cost  of  each  skin  in  wages 
was  from  *U  to  *:$;  in  IS'.M)  and  1S!)1  it  was  $,'$.50;  in  18!)1>  it  was  .^4; 
in  other  words,  an  advancing  price  for  both  master  and  hunter. 

Now,  it  is  evident  that  it  will  be  some  time  before  the  Pribilof  Islands 
can  very  greatly  increase  their  annual  output  of  skins.  The  maximum 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  329 

output  of  the  Commander  Islands  has  been  reached,  and  probably  will 
have  to  be  decreased  in  the  future.  There  must  be  through  these  regu- 
lations some  curtailment  of  the  contribution  of  the  sealing  schooners, 
and  the  result  of  all  this  will  be  that  seal  skins  will  demand  a  higher 
price.  Should  that  price  reach  a  figure  which  will  compensate  for  the 
obstacles  which  the  regulations  place  in  the  way  of  the  pelagic  sealer, 
then  we  will  have  the  changed  conditions  referred  to,  and  pelagic  seal- 
ing with  its  attendant  evils  will  go  on  as  before.  If  there  is  doubt  in 
.  the  minds  of  anyone  upon  this  point  it  is  only  necessary  to  turn  to  the 
history  of  the  sea  otter,  which,  though  nearly  exterminated,  is  as 
eagerly  sought  after  to-day  as  it  ever  was,  simply  because  the  ever- 
increasing  price  the  trade  is  willing  to  pay  for  its  skin  still  compensates 
for  the  small  numbers  now  taken.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
the  career  of  the  fur  seal  will  be  different  from  that  of  the  sea  otter. 

Another  possible  source  of  changed  conditions  lies  in  the  regulations 
themselves,  for  they  provide,  as  we  have  peen,  for  their  own  modifica- 
tion every  five  years,  and  the  pressure  will  come  heaviest  from  the 
pelagic  sealers'  side  of  the  case.  Indeed,  the  regulations  require  that 
each  pelagic  sealer — an  interested  party — shall  keep  records  which  are 
to  be  made  available  when  the  question  of  modifications  of  the  regula- 
tions arises.  Now,  while  there  never  was  a  more  fearless  and  coura- 
geous set  of  men  than  these  pelagic  sealers,  it  will  be  something  entirely 
new  in  their  history  if  their  records  do  not  appeal  in  the  strongest  pos- 
sible terms  for  a  Modification,  of  the  regulations  in  their  favor. 

The  final  question  that  arises  in  regard  to  these  regulations  is,  will 
they,  as  they  now  stand,  ever  be  put  in  operation?  The  interested 
powers  have  yet  to  agree  upon  measures  for  giving  effect  to  them.  Is 
it  likely  that,  when  a  neutral  tribunal  found  the  making  of  regulations 
so  tedious  and  difficult,  the  interested  powers  will  be  able  without  inter- 
minable delay  and  pocsibly  irreconcilable  conflict  to  agree  upon  "con- 
current measures"  putting  them  in  force1?  England  has  won  on  the 
great  law  points  of  the  case,  but  these  regulations  are  objectionable  to 
Canada,  for  they  bear  somewhat  heavily  upon  pelagic  sealing;  and  these 
"  concurrent  measures '"  offer  tempting  fighting  ground  for  securing  their 
modification  in  favor  of  the  Dominion. 

Under  the  circumstances  it  is  only  to  be  expected  that  the  arts  of 
diplomacy  will  be  vigorously  exercised  in  that  direction.  There  is  but 
one  course,  however,  for  the  United  States  to  pursue — permit  no  modi- 
fications, stand  squarely  for  the  prompt  carrying  out  of  these  regulations, 
and  let  time  reveal  how  much  value  they  possess  for  protecting  the  seal 
herd.  England  will  champion  no  plan  of  greater  protection;  she  has 
all  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose  from  delay,  and  it  will  require  all  the 
energy  and  firmness  of  the  Executive  to  put  effectively  in  force  the 
regulations  as  adopted  by  the  tribunal. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

After  more  than  two  years  of  close  study  of  this  question  it  is  my 
conviction  that  the  only  way  in  which  the  world  can  secure  the  largest 
benefit  commercially  from  the  fur  seal  wherever  found  is  by  taking  the 
surplus  immature  males  upon  land  under  the  most  favorable  conditions 
suggested  by  experience;  that  securing  seals  by  any  other  methods 
introduces  the  fatal  element  of  indiscrimination ;  that  the  life  of  the  herd 
is  jeopardized  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  females  killed;  that  the 
injury  inflicted  on  the  northern  herds  by  pelagic  sealing  increases  from 
January  to  August,  grows  greater  as  Bering  Sea  is  approached,  and 


330  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOP    ISLANDS. 

•culminates  in  those  waters;  that  the  shotgun  and  spear  are  both  deadly, 
the  latter  by  reason  of  its  noiseless  efficiency,  the  former  by  reason  of 
its  ready  use  by  all  classes,  and  that  the  disposition  of  this  question  on 
the  basis  of  adjusting  two  conflicting  interests  is  futile  and  illogical, 
but  material  issues  are  not  alone  involved;  it  presents  biologic  features 
as  well  and  has  to  do  with  forces  of  nature  beyond  man's  control. 

Regulations  can  not  be  framed  by  human  ingenuity  which  will  pre- 
serve the  seal  herds  in  their  greatest  possible  proportions  and  permit 
the  continuation  of  successful  pelagic  sealing.  It  would  be  reconciling 
the  irreconcilable.  It  would  be  accomplishing  a  feat  equal  to  that  of 
making  two  bodies  occupy  the  same  space  at  the  same  time.  Either 
the  regulations  will  be  prohibitive  in  their  operation— in  which  case  it 
would  be  more  straightforward  to  make  them  so  in  the  first  instance — 
or,  if  allowing  successful  pelagic  sealing,  they  will  be  valueless  in  pre- 
venting the  extermination  of  the  seal.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that 
no  pelagic  sealing  can  be  carried  on  which  is  not  inherently  and  uncon- 
trollably injurious  to  the  life  of  the  seal  herd — the  amount  of  injury 
being  proportionate  to  the  magnitude  of  the  attack. 


AWARD  OF  THE  TRIBUNAL  OF  ARBITRATION  CONSTITUTED  UNDER  THE  TREATY 
CONCLUDED  AT  WASHINGTON  THE  29TH  OF  FEBRUARY,  1892,  BETWEEN  THE 
UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  AND  HER  MAJESTY  THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  UNITED 
KINGDOM  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND. 

[English  version.] 

Whereas,  by  a  treaty  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  Great 
Britain,  signed  at  Washington,  February  29,  1892,  the  ratifications  of 
which  by  the  Governments  of  the  two  countries  were  exchanged  at 
London  on  May  7, 1892,  it  was,  amongst  other  things,  agreed  and  con- 
•eluded  that  the  questions  which  had  arisen  between  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Government  of  Her  Britannic 
Majesty,  concerning  the  jurisdictional  rights  of  the  United  States  in 
the  waters  of  Bering  Sea,  and  concerning  also  the  preservation  of  the 
fur  seal  in  or  habitually  resorting  to  the  said  sea,  and  the  rights  of  the 
•citizens  and  subjects  of  either  country  as  regards  the  taking  of  fur 
seals  in  or  habitually  resorting  to  the  said  waters,  should  be  submitted 
to  a  tribunal  of  arbitration  to  be  composed  of  seven  arbitrators,  who 
should  be  appointed  in  the  following  manner,  that  is  to  say :  Two  should 
be  named  by  the  President  of  the  United  States;  two  should  be  named 
by  Her  Britannic  Majesty;  His  Excellency  the  President  of  the  French 
Republic  should  be  jointly  requested  by  the  high  contracting  parties 
to  name  one;  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Italy  should  be  so  requested  to 
name  one;  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Sweden  and  Norway  should  be 
so  requested  to  name  one;  the  seven  arbitrators  to  be  so  named  should 
be  jurists  of  distinguished  reputation  in  their  respective  countries,  and 
the  selecting  powers  should  be  requested  to  choose,  if  possible,  jurists 
who  are  acquainted  with  the  English  language; 

And  whereas  it  was  further  agreed  by  Article  II  of  the  said  treaty 
that  the  arbitrators  should  meet  at  Paris  within  twenty  days  after  the 
•delivery  of  the  counter  cases  mentioned  in  Article  IV,  and  should  pro- 
ceed impartially  and  carefully  to  examine  and  decide  the  questions 
which  had  been  or  should  be  laid  before  them  as  in  the  said  treaty  pro- 
vided on  the  part  of  the  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  of  Her 
Britannic  Majesty,  respectively,  and  that  all  questions  considered  by 


SEAL    L1FK    ON    THK    PKIHILOF    ISLANDS.  331 

the  tribunal,  including  the  final  decision,  should  be  determined  by  a, 

majority  of   all  the  arbitrators; 

And  whereas  by  Article  VI  of  the  said  treaty,  it  was  further  pro- 
vided as  follows: 

[n  deciding  the  matters  submitted  to  tin- said  arbitrators.it  is  agreed  that  the  fol- 
lowing live  points  shall  be  submitted  to  them  in  order  lliat  their  awanlHhall  embrace 
a  distinct  decision  upon  ei.ch  of  said  live  points,  to  wit: 

1.  What,  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  the  sea  now  known  as  Bering  Sea,  and  what 
exclusive  rights  in  the  seal  fisheries  therein,  did  K'ussia  assert  and  exercise  prior  and 
iij)  to  the  time  of  the  cession  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States? 

l'.  How  far  were  these  claims  of  jurisdiction  as  to  the  seal  fisheries  recognized  and 
conceded  l>y  (Jreat  Britain.' 

'.'>.  Was  the  body  of  water  now  known  as  Bering  Sea  included  in  the  phrase  Pacific; 
Ocean,  as  used  in  the  treaty  of  ixi>r>  between  (Jreat  Britain  and  Russia;  and  what 
rights,  if  any.  in  Bering  Sea  were  held  and  exclusively  exercised  by  Russia  after  said 
treaty  '. 

I.  Did  not  all  the  rights  of  Russia,  as  to  jurisdiction  and  as  to  the  seal  fisheries  in 
Bering  Sea  east  of  the  water  boundary,  in  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and 
Russia  of  the  SOth  of  March,  18«>7,  pass  unimpaired  to  the  United  States  under  that 
treaty? 

5.  Has  the  United  States  any  right,  and  if  so,  what  right,  of  protection  or  prop- 
erty in  the  fur  seals  frequenting  the  islands  of  the  United  States  in  Bering  Sea  when 
snch  seals  are  found  outside  the  ordinary  3-mile  lirnit^ 

And  whereas,  by  Article  VI I  of  the  said  treaty,  it  was  further  agreed 
us  follows: 

If  the  determination  of  the  foregoing  questions  as  to  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States  shall  leave  the  subject  in  such  position  that  the  concurrence  of 
(ireat  Britain  is  necessary  to  the  establishment  of  regulations  for  the  proper  protec- 
tion and  preservation  of  the  fur  seal  in,  or  habitually  resorting  to,  Bering  Sea.  the 
arbitrators  shall  then  determine  what  concurrent  regulations,  outside  the  jurisdic- 
tion limits  of  the  respective  < Governments,  are  necessary,  and  over  what  \vat-  rs  such 
regulations  should  extend; 

The  high  contracting  parties  furthermore  agree  to  cooperate  in  securing  the  adhe- 
sion of  other  powers  to  such  regulations; 

And  whereas,  by  Article  VIII  of  the  said  treaty,  after  reciting  that 
the  high  contracting  parties  had  found  themselves  unable  to  agree 
upon  a  reference  which  should  include  the  question  of  the  liability  of 
each  for  the  injuries  alleged  to  have  been  sustained  by  the  other,  or  by 
its  citi/.ens,  in  connection  with  the  claims  presented  and  urged  by  it, 
and  that  u  they  were  solicitious  that  this  subordinate  question  should 
not  interrupt  or  longer  delay  the  submission  and  determination  of  the 
main  questions/'  the  high  contracting  parties  agreed  that  *•  either  of 
them  might  submit  to  the  arbitrators  any  question  of  fact  involved  in 
said  claims  and  ask  for  a  finding  thereon,  the  question  of  the  liability 
of  either  Government  upon  the  facts  found,  to  be  the  subject  of  further 
negotiation ; 

And  whereas  the  President  of  the  Tinted  States  of  America  named 
the  Hon.  John  M.  Marian,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  Hon.  John  T.  Morgan,  Senator  of  the  United  States,  to 
be  two  of  the  said  arbitrators,  and  Her  Britannic  Majesty  named  the 
Right  Hon.  Lord  Hannen  and  the  Hon.  Sir  John  Thompson,  minister 
of  justice  and  attorney-general  for  Canada,  to  be  two  of  the  said 
arbitrators,  and  His  Excellency  the  President  of  the  French  Republic 
named  the  Baron  de  Courcel,  senator,  ambassador  of  France,  to  be 
one  of  the  said  arbitrators;  and  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Italy  named 
the  Marquis  Kmilio  Visconti  Venosta,  former  minister  of  foreign  affairs 
and  senator  of  the  Kingdom  of  Italy,  to  be  one  of  the  said  arbitrators; 
and  His  Majesty  the  King  of  Sweden  and  Norway  named  Mr.  (iregers 
(Iram,  minister  of  state,  to  be  one  of  the  said  arbitrators; 

And  whereas  we,  the  said  arbitrators  so  named  and  appointed,  hav- 


332  SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

ing  taken  upon  ourselves  the  burden  of  the  said  arbitration,  and  having 
duly  met  at  Paris,  proceeded  impartially  and  carefully  to  examine  and 
decide  all  the  questions  submitted  to  us,  the  said  arbitrators,  under  the 
said  treaty,  or  laid  before  us  as  provided  in  the  said  trea  y  on  the  part 
of  the  Governments  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  and  the  Tinted  States, 
respectively; 

Now  we,  the  said  arbitrators,  having  impartially  and  carefully  exam- 
ined the  said  questions,  do  in  like  manner  by  this  our  award  decide  and 
determine  the  said  questions  in  the  manner  following;  that  is  to  say, 
we  decide  and  determine  as  to  the  live  points  mentioned  in  Article  VI 
as  to  which  our  award  is  to  embrace  a  distinct  decision  upon  each  of 
them : 

As  to  the  first  of  the  said  ft ve  points,  we,  the  said  Baron  de  Coureel,  Mr- 
Justice  Harlan,  Lord  Hannen,  Sir  John  Thompson,  Marquis  Visconti 
Venosta,  and  Mr.  Gregers  Gram,  being  a  majority  of  tlie  said  arbi- 
trators, do  decide  and  determine  as  follows: 

By  the  ukase  of  1821  Russia  claimed  jurisdiction  in  the  sea  now 
known  as  Bering  Sea  to  the  extent  of  100  Italian  miles  from  the  coast 
and  islands  belonging  to  her;  but,  in  the  course  of  the  negotiations  which 
led  to  the  conclusion  of  tflie  treaties  of  1824  with  the  Tinted  States  and 
and  of  1825  with  Great  Britain,  Russia  admitted  that  her  jurisdiction 
in  the  said  sea  should  be  restricted  to  the  reacli  of  cannon  shot  from 
shore,  and  it  appears  that  from  that  time  up  to  the  time  of  the  cession 
of  Alaska  to  the  United  States  Russia  never  asserted  in  fact  or  exer- 
cised any  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  Bering  Sea  or  any  exclusive  rights- 
in  the  seal  fisheries  therein  beyond  the  ordinary  limit  of  territorial 
waters. 

As  to  the  second  of  the  said  five  points,  we,  the  said  Baron  de  Coureel, 
Mr.  Justice  Harlan,  Lord  Ilannen,  Sir  John  Thompson,  Marquis  Visconti 
Veuosta,  and  Mr.  Gregers  Gram,  being  a  majority  of  the  said  arbi- 
trators, do  decide  and  determine  that  Great  Britain  did  not  recognize 
or  concede  any  claim  upon  the  part  of  Russia  to  exclusive  jurisdiction 
as  to  the  seal  fisheries  in  Bering  Sea  outside  of  ordinary  territorial 
waters. 

As  to  the  third  of  the  said  five  points,  as  to  so  much  thereof  as  requires- 
us  to  decide  whether  the  body  of  water  now  known  as  Bering  Sea  was 
included  in  the  phrase  "Pacific  Ocean"  as  used  in  the  treaty  of  1825 
between  Great  Britain  and  Russia,  we,  the  said  arbitrators,  do  unani- 
mously decide  and  determine  that  the  body  of  water  now  known  as 
Bering  Sea  was  included  in  the  phrase  "Pacific  Ocean"  as  used  in  the 
said  treaty. 

And  as  to  so  much  of  the  said  third  point  as  requires  us  to  decide 
what  rights,  if  any,  in  Bering  Sea  were  held  and  exclusively  exercised 
by  Russia  after  the  said  treaty  of  1825,  we,  the  said  Baron  de  Coureel, 
Mr.  Justice  Harlan,  Lord  Hannen,  Sir  John  Thorn pson,  Marquis  Visconti 
Venosta,  and  Mr.  Gregers  Gram,  being  a  majority  of  the  said  arbitra- 
tors, do  decide  and  determine  that  no  exclusive  rights  of  jurisdiction 
in  Bering  Sea  and  no  exclusive  rights  as  to  the  seal  fisheries  therein 
were  held  or  exercised  by  Russia  outside  of  ordinary  territorial  waters 
after  the  treaty  of  1825. 

As  to  the  fourth  of  the  said  five  points,  we,  the  said  arbitrators,  do 
unanimously  decide  and  determine  that  all  the  rights  of  Russia  as  to 
jurisdiction  and  as  to  the  seal  fisheries  in  Bering  Sea  east  of  the  water 
boundary,  in  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Russia  of  the 
30th  March,  1807,  did  pass  unimpaired  to  the  United  States  under  the 
said  treatv. 


SEAL  LIFE  ON  THE  PKIIULOF  ISLANDS.  333 

As  to  the  fit'tli  of  the  s;iid  five  [joints,  we,  the  said  Baron  de  Courcel, 
Lord  Hannen,  Sir  John  Thoiii]>son,  Marquis  Visconti  Venosta,  and  Mr. 
Gregers  Grain,  being  a  majority  of  the  said  arbitrators,  do  decide  and 
determine  that  the  United  States  has  not  any  right  of  protection  or 
property  in  the  fur  seals  frequenting  the  islands  of  the  Tinted  States 
in  Bering  Sea  when  such  seals  are  found  outside  the  ordinary  •">  mile 
limit. 

And  whereas  the  aforesaid  determination  of  the  foregoing  questions 
as  to  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  mentioned  in 
Article  VI,  leaves  the  subject  in  such  a  position  that  the  concurrence 
of  Great  Britain  is  necessary  to  the  establishment  of  regulations  for 
the  proper  protection  and  preservation  of  the  fur  seals  in  or  habitually 
resorting  to  Bering  Sea,  the  tribunal  having  decided  by  a  majority  as 
to  each  article  of  the  following  regulations,  we,  the  said  Baron  de 
Courcel,  Lord  llannen,  Marquis  Visconti  Venosta,  and  Mr.  Gregers 
Gram,  assenting  to  the  whole  of  the  nine  articles  of  the  following  regu- 
lations, and  being  a  majority  of  the  said  arbitrators,  do  decide  and 
determine  in  the  mode  provided  by  the  treaty  that  the  following  con- 
current regulations  outside  the  jurisdictional  limits  of  the  respective 
Governments  are  necessary,  and  that  they  should  extend  over  the 
waters  hereinafter  mentioned,  that  is  to  say: 

REGULATIONS. 
ARTICLE  1. 

The  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  of  Great  Britain  shall 
forbid  their  citizens  and  subjects,  respectively,  to  kill,  capture,  or  pur- 
sue at  any  time  and  in  any  manner  whatever  the  animals  commonly 
called  fur  seals  within  a  zone  of  (>0  miles  around  the  Pribilof  Islands, 
inclusive  of  the  territorial  waters. 

The  miles  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph  are  geographical 
miles,  of  00  to  a  degree  of  latitude. 

ARTICLE   2. 

The  two  Governments  shall  forbid  their  citizens  and  subjects,  respec- 
tively, to  kill,  capture,  or  pursue,  in  any  manner  whatever,  during  the 


thirty- 

fifth  degree  of  north  latitude  and  eastward  of  the  one  hundred  and 
eightieth  degree  of  longitude  from  Greenwich,  till  it  strikes  the  water 
boundary  described  in  Article  I  of  the  treaty  of  1867  between  the 
United  States  and  Russia,  and  following  that  line  up  to  Bering  Straits. 

ARTICLE  3. 

During  the  period  of  time  and  in  the  waters  in  which  the  fur-seal 
fishing  is  allowed,  only  sailing  vessels  shall  be  permitted  to  carry  on 
or  take  part  in  fur  seal  fishing  operations.  They  will,  however,  be  at 
liberty  to  avail  themselves  of  the  use  of  such  canoes  or  undecked 
boats,  propelled  by  paddles,  oars,  or  sails  as  are  in  common  use  as 
fishing  boats. 

ARTICLE  I. 

Kaeh  sailing  vessel  authorized  to  fish  for  fur  seals  must  be  provided 
with  a  special  license  issued  for  that  purpose  by  its  Government,  and 
shall  be  required  to  carry  a  distinguishing  nag,  to  be  prescribed  by  its 
Government. 


334  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRJBILOF    ISLANDS. 


ARTICLE  5. 

The  masters  of  the  vessels  engaged  in  fur-seal  fishing  shall  enter 
accurately  in  their  official  log  book  the  date  and  place  of  each  fur-seal 
fishing  operation,  and  also  the  number  and  sex  of  the  seals  captured 
upon  each  day.  These  entries  shall  be  communicated  by  each  of  the 
two  Governments  to  the  other  at  the  end  of  each  fishing  season. 

AKTICLK  6. 

The  use  of  nets,  firearms,  and  explosives  shall  be  forbidden  in  the 
fur-seal  fishing.  This  restriction  shall  not  apply  to  shotguns  when  such 
fishing  takes  place  outside  of  Bering  Sea  during  the  season  when  it 
may  be  lawfully  carried  on. 

ARTICLE  7. 

The  two  Governments  shall  take  measures  to  control  the  fitness  of 
the  men  authorized  to  engage  in  fur-seal  fishing.  These  men  shall  have 
been  proved  fit  to  handle  with  sufficient  skill  the  weapons  by  means  of 
which  this  fishing  may  be  carried  on. 

ARTICLE  8. 

The  regulations  contained  in  the  preceding  articles  shall  not  apply  to 
Indians  dwelling  on  the  coasts  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  or 
of  Great  Britain,  and  carrying  on  fur-seal  fishing  in  canoes  or  undecked 
boats  not  transported  by  paddles,  oars,  or  sails,  and  manned  by  not 
more  than  five  persons  each  in  the  way  hitherto  practiced  by  the  Indians, 
provided  such  Indians  are  not  in  the  employment  of  other  persons,  and 
provided  that,  when  so  hunting  in  canoes  or  undecked  boats,  they  shall 
not  hunt  fur  seals  outside  of  territorial  waters  under  contract  for  the 
delivery  of  the  skins  to  any  person. 

This  exemption  shall  not  be  construed  to  affect  the  municipal  law  of 
either  country,  nor  shall  it  extend  to  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea  or  the 
waters  of  the  Aleutian  Passes. 

Nothing  herein  contained  is  intended  to  interfere  with  the  employ- 
ment of  Indians  as  hunters  or  otherwise  in  connection  with  fur-sealing 
vessels,  as  heretofore. 

ARTICLE  9. 

The  concurrent  regulations  hereby  determined  with  a  view  to  the  pro- 
tection and  preservation  of  the  fur  seals  shall  remain  in  force  until  they 
have  been  in  whole  or  in  part  abolished  or  modified  by  common  agree- 
ment between  the  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  of  Great 
Britain. 

The  said  concurrent  regulations  shall  be  submitted  every  five  years 
to  a  new  examination,  so  as  to  enable  both  interested  Governments  to 
consider  whether  in  the  light  of  past  experience  there  is  occasion  for 
any  modification  thereof. 

And  whereas  the  Government  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  did  submit 
to  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration  by  Article  VIII  of  the  said  treaty  cer- 
tain questions  of  fact  involved  in  the  claims  referred  to  in  said  Article 
VIII,  and  did  also  submit  to  us,  the  said  tribunal,  a  statement  of  the 
said  facts,  as  follows,  that  is  to  say: 

FINDINGS  OF  FACT  PROPOSED  BY  TIIK  AGENT  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  AM)  AGI.'KKD  To 
AS  PROVED  BY  THE  AGENT  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  SI  BMITTKD  TO  THE 
TRIBUNAL  OF  ARBITRATION  FOR  ITS  CONSIDERATION. 

1.  That  the  several  searches  and  seizures,  whether  of  ships  or  goods,  and  the  sev- 
eral arrests  of  masters  and  crews,  respectively,  mentioned  in  the  schedule  to  the 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THK    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  335 

British  case,  p:iges  1  to  (JO.  inclusive,  were  made  l»y  tin-  authority  of  the  Tinted 
States  Government.  The  <|iiestioii8  as  to  the  value  of  the  said  vessels  or  their  con- 
tents, or  either  of  them,  and  the  question  as  to  whether  the  vessels  mentioned  in 
the  schedule  to  the  British  ease,  or  any  of  them,  were  wholly  or  in  ]>art  the  actual 
property  of  the  eiti/eiisof  the  1'nited  States  have  been  withdrawn  from  and  have 
not  been  considered  by  the  tribunal,  it  being  understood  that  it  is  open  to  the  Tnited 
States  to  raise  these  questions  or  any  of  them,  if  they  think  tit,  in  any  future  nego- 
tiations as  to  the  liability  of  the  Tinted  States  Government  1o  pay  the  amount* 
mentioned  in  the  schedule  of  the  British  case. 

2.  That  the  sei/.ures  aforesaid,  with  the  exception  of  the  rathfnidi-r,  seized  at  Neah 
Bay,  were  made  in  Bering  Sea  at  the  distances  from  shore  mentioned  in  the  schedule 
annexed  hereto,  marked  C. 

.  3.  That  the  said  several  searches  and  sei/.ures  of  vessels  were  made  by  public  armed 
vessels  of  the  Tnited  States,  the  commanders  of  which  had,  at  the  several  times  when 
they  were  made,  from  the  Executive  Department  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  instructions,  a  copy  of  one  of  which  is  annexed  hereto,  marked  A,  and  that  the 
others  were,  in  all  substantial  respects,  the  same;  that  in  all  the  instances  in  which 
proceedings  were  had  in  the  district  courts  of  the  United  States  resulting  in  condem- 
nation, such  proceedings  were  begun  by  the  tiling  of  libels,  a  copy  of  one  of  which 
is  annexed  hereto,  marked  B,  and  that  the  libels  in  the  other  proceedings  were  in  all 
substantial  respects  the  same ;  that  the  alleged  acts  or  offenses  for  which  said  several 
searches  and  sei/.ures  were  made  in  each  case  were  done  or  committed  in  Bering  Sea 
at  the  distances  from  shore  aforesaid ;  and  that  in  each  case  in  which  sentence  of  con- 
demnation was  passed,  except  in  those  cases  when  the  vessels  were  released  after 
condemnation,  the  sei/ure  was  adopted  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States; 
and  in  those  cases  in  which  the  vessels  were  released  the  seizure  was  made  by  the 
authority  of  the  United  States ;  that  the  said  fines  and  imprisonments  were  for  alleged 
breaches  of  the  municipal  laws  of  the  United  States,  which  alleged  breaches  were 
wholly  committed  in  Bering  Sea  at  the  distances  from  the  shore  aforesaid. 

1.  That  the  several  orders  mentioned  in  the  schedule  annexed  hereto  and  marked 
G,  warning  vessels  to  leave  or  not  to  enter  Bering  Sea,  were  made  by  public  armed 
vessels  of  the  United  States,  the  commanders  of  which  had,  at  the  several  times 
when  they  were  given,  like  instructions  as  mentioned  in  finding  3,  and  that  the  ves- 
sels so  warned  weie  engaged  in  sealing  or  prosecuting  voyages  for  that  purpose,  and 
that  such  action  was  adopted  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

5.  That  the  district  courts  of  the  United  States  in  which  any  proceedings  were 
had  or  taken  for  the  purpose  of  condemning  any  vessel  seized,  as  mentioned  in  the 
schedule  to  the  case  of  Great  Britain,  pages  1  to  60,  inclusive,  had  all  the  jurisdic- 
tion and  powers  of  courts  of  admiralty,  including  the  prize  jurisdiction,  but  that  in 
each  case  the  sentence  pronounced  by  the  court  was  based  upon  the  grounds  set 
forth  in  the  libel. 


ANNEX  A. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  OFFICE  OY  THE  SECRETARY, 

Washington,  April  81,  1886. 

SIR  :  Referring  to  Department  letter  of  this  date,  directing  you  to  proceed  with  the 
revenue  steamer  Hear,  under  your  command,  to  the  seal  islands,  etc.,  you  are  hereby 
clothed  with  full  power  to  enforce  the  law  contained  in  the  provisions  of  section  1956 
of  the  United  States  Revised  Statutes,  and  directed  to  seize  all  vessels  and  arrest  and 
deliver  to  the  proper  authorities  any  or  all  persons  whom  you  may  detect  violating 
the  law  referred  to,  after  due  notice  shall  have  been  given. 

You  will  also  seize  any  liquors  or  firearms  attempted  to  be  introduced  into  the 
country  without  proper  permit,  under  the  provisions  of  section  1955  of  the  Revised 
Statutes,  and  the  proclamation  of  the  President  dated  February  4,  1870. 
Respectfully,  yours, 

C.  S.  FAIRCHILD,  Acting  Secretary. 
('apt.  M.  A.  HKALY, 

Commanding  Revenue  Steamer  Bear,  San  Francisco,  CaL 


ANNEX  B. 

In  the  district  court  of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of  Alaska — August  special 

term,  1886. 

To  the  Hon.  LAFAYETTE  DAWSON,  Judge  of  mid  District  Court: 

The  libel  of  information  of  M.  D.  Ball,  attorney  for  the  United  States  for  the  Dis- 
trict of  Alaska,  who  prosecutes  on  behalf  of  said  United  States,  and  being  present 


336 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PBIBILOF    ISLANDS 


here  in  court  in  his  proper  person,  in  the  name  an<l  on  behalf  of  said  United  States, 
against  the  schooner  Thornton,  her  tackle,  apparel,  boats,  cargo,  and  furniture,  and 
against  all  persons  intervening  for  their  interest  therein,  in  a  cause  of  forfeiture, 
alleges  and  informs  as  follows: 

That  Charles  A.  Abbey,  an  officer  in  the  Revenue-Marine  Service  of  the  United 
States,  and  on  special  duty  in  the  waters  of  the  District  of  Alaska,  heretofore,  to 
wit,  on  the  1st  day  of  August,  188B,  within  the  limits  of  Alaska  Territory,  and  in  the 
waters  thereof,  and  within  the  civil  and  judicial  District  of  Alaska,  to  wit,  within 
the  waters  of  that  portion  of  Bering  Sea  belonging  to  the  said  district,  on  waters 
navigable  from  the  sea  by  vessels  of  10  or  more  tons  burden,  sei/ed  the  ship  or  vessel 
commonly  called  a  schooner,  the  Thornton,  her  tackle,  apparel,  boats,  cargo,  and 
furniture,  being  the  property  of  some  person  or  persons  to  the  said  attorney  unknown, 
as  forfeited  to  the  United  States,  for  the  following  causes: 

That  the  said  vessel  or  schooner  was  found  engaged  in  killing  fur  seal  within  the 
limits  of  Alaska  Territor}r,  and  in  the  waters  thereof,  in  violation  of  section  195H  of 
the  Ke  vised  Statutes  of  the  United  States. 

And  the  said  attorney  saith  that  all  and  singular  the  premises  are  and  were  true, 
and  within  the  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction  of  this  court,  and  that  by  reason 
thereof  and  by  force  of  the  statutes  of  the  United  States  in  such  cases  made  and 
provided,  the  aforementioned  and  described  schooner  or  vessel,  being  a  vessel  of 
over  20  tons  burden,  her  tackle  and  apparel,  boats,  cargo,  and  furniture,  became 
forfeited  to  the  use  of  the  said  United  States,  and  that  said  schooner  is  now  within 
the  district  aforesaid. 

Wherefore  the  said  attorney  prays  the  usual  process  and  monition  of  this  honor- 
able court  issue  in  this  behalf,  and  that  all  persons  interested  in  the  before-mentioned 
and  described  schooner  or  vessel  may  be  cited  in  general  and  special  to  answer  the 
premises,  and  all  due  proceedings  being  had,  that  the  said  schooner  or  vessel,  her 
tackle,  apparel,  boats,  cargo,  and  furniture  may,  for  the  cause  aforesaid,  and  others 
appearing,  be  condemned  by  the  definite  sentence  and  decree  of  this  honorable 
court,  as  forfeited  to  the  use  of  the  said  United  States,  according  to  the  form  of  the 
statute  of  the  said  United  States  in  such  cases  made  and  provided. 

M.   I).  BALL, 
United  Slates  District  Attorney  for  the  District  of  Alaska. 


ANNEX  C. 

The  following  table  shows  the  names  of  the  British  sealing  vessels  sei/ed  or  warned 
by  the  United  States  revenue  cruisers,  1886-1890,  and  the  approximate  distance  from 
land  when  seized.  The  distances  assigned  in  the  cases  of  the  Carolena,  Thornton,  and 
Onward  are  on  the  authority  of  the  United  States  Naval  Commander  Abbey  (see 
Senate  Ex.  Doc.  No.  106,  pp. '20,  30,  40,  Fiftieth  Congress,  second  session).  The  dis- 
tances assigned  in  the  cases  of  the  Anna  Beck,  W.  P.  Sai/ward,  Dolphin,  and  Grace  are 
on  the  authority  of  Captain  Shepard,  United  States  Revenue  Marine  (Blue  Book, 
United  States,  No.  2,  1890,  pp.  80-82.  See  Appendix,  Vol.  III). 


Name  of  vessel.            of  f^. 

1 

Approximate  distance  from  land  when  seized. 

United  States 
vessel  making 
seizures. 

Corwin. 
Do. 
Do. 

Rush. 
Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 
Bear. 

Rnsl.. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Corwin. 

'  j            ' 
Carolena  Aug.    1,1886 

75  miles  

70  milfs 

Onward                               Au«r    2  1886 

115  miles                    

Favourite                                  do 

Warned  hy  Corwin  in  about  same  position  as 
Onward. 
66  miles 

Anna  Beck                         July    2  1887 

TT  P  Sayward                   July    9  1887 

5'J  miles                            

Dolphin                               July  12  1887 

40  miles 

Grace                                 July  1?'  1887 

96  miles                                

Alfred  Adams  A  ug.  lOJ  1  887 

Ada                                      Aug  95  1887 

Triumph  Aug.   4,1887 

Warned  by  Rush  not  to  enter  Bering  Sea  

•Ju-miti                                 Julv  31  1889 

Pathfinder                          Julv  29  1889 

50  miles               

Triumph                           i  July  11  1889 

Ordered  out  of  Bering  .Sea  by  Rush.     (  /)  As 
to  position  when  warned. 
35  miles  

lilack  Diamond           .  .        .  .  do  

Lilv                                    '  Aug    6  18H9 

66  miles        

Ariel                      .  .     -     j  July  30,  1889 

(  )rdered  out  of  Bering  Sea  l>v  Rush  

K-ite                                       1  Au<*  13  1889 

An 

Minnie                                  July  15  1889     65  miles                            

PAthfltidftT*  .                    .    Mar.  27*  1890     Seized  in  NVali  l.nv.  (?)... 

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS.  337 

And  whereas  the  Government  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty  did  ask  the 
said  arbitrators  to  find  the  said  facts  as  set  forth  in  the  said  statement, 
and  whereas  the  agent  and  counsel  for  the  United  States  Government 
thereupon  in  our  presence  informed  us  that  the  said  statement  of  facts 
was  sustained  by  the  evidence,  and  that  they  had  agreed  with  the  agent 
and  counsel  for  Her  Britannic  Majesty  that  we,  the  arbitrators,  if  we 
should  think  fit  so  to  do,  might  find  the  said  statement  of  facts  to  be 
true: 

Now  we,  the  said  arbitrators,  do  unanimously  find  the  facts  as  set 
forth  in  the  said  statement  to  be  true. 

'  And  whereas  each  and  every  question  which  1ms  been  considered  by 
the  tribunal  has  been  determined  by  a  majority  of  all  the  arbitrators: 

Now  we,  Baron  de  Courcel,  Lord  Uannen,  Mr.  Justice  Harlau,  Sir 
John  Thompson,  Senator  Morgan,  the  Marquis  Visconti  Venosta,  and 
Mr.  Gregers  Gram,  the  respective  minorities  not  withdrawing  their 
votes,  do  declare  this  to  be  the  final  decision  and  award  in  writing  of 
this  tribunal  in  accordance  with  the  treaty. 

Made  in  duplicate  at  Paris  and  signed  by  us  the  loth  day  of  August, 
in  the  year  1893. 

And  we  do  certify  this  English  version  thereof  to  be  true  and  accurate. 

(Bering  Sea  Arbitration.     Indexes  to  the  British  case,  p.  19.) 


DECLARATIONS   MADE   BY   THE  TRIBUNAL   OF   ARBITRATION   AND   REFERRED   TO 
THE  GOVERNMENTS  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  AND   GREAT  BRITAIN  FOR  THEIR 

CONSIDERATION. 

[English  version.] 

I. 

The  arbitrators  declare  that  the  concurrent  regulations,  as  determined 
upon  by  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  by  virtue  of  Article  VII  of  the 
treaty  of  the  29th  of  February,  1892,  being  applicable  to  the  high  sea 
only,  should,  in  their  opinion,  be  supplemented  by  other  regulations 
applicable  within  the  limits  of  the  sovereignty  of  each  of  the  two  powers 
interested  and  to  be  settled  by  their  common  agreement. 

II. 

In  view  of  the  critical  condition  to  which  it  appears  certain  that  the 
race  of  fur  seals  is  now  reduced  in  consequence  of  circumstances  not 
fully  known,  the  arbitrators  think  fit  to  recommend  both  Governments 
to  come  to  an  understanding  in  order  to  prohibit  any  killing  of  fur  seals, 
either  on  land  or  at  sea,  for  a  period  of  two  or  three  years,  or  at  least 
one  year,  subject  to  such  exceptions  as  the  two  Governments  might 
think  proper  to  admit  of. 

Such  a  measure  might  be  recurred  to  at  occasional  intervals,  if  found 
beneficial. 

III. 

The  arbitrators  declare  moreover  that,  in  their  opinion,  the  carrying 
out  of  the  regulations  determined  upon  by  the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration 
should  be  assured  by  a  system  of  stipulations  and  measures  to  be 
enacted  by  the  two  powers;  and  that  the  tribunal  must,  in  consequence, 
leave  it  to  the  two  powers  to  decide  upon  the  means  for  giving  effect  to 
the  regulations  determined  upon  by  it. 

We  do  certify  this  English  version  to  be  true  and  accurate,  and  have 
signed  the  same  at  Paris  this  loth  day  of  August,  1893. 

(Bering  Sea  Arbitration.    Indexes  to  the  British  case,  p.  3.) 
S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 22 


338 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


I'essels  composing  the  Canadian  sealing  fleet  for  1804. 


1.  Arctic. 

2.  Ainak. 

3.  Aurora. 

4.  Annie  C.  Moore. 

5.  Agnes  McDonald. 

6.  Arietas. 

7.  Annie  E.  Paint. 

8.  Brenda. 

9.  Beatrice. 

10.  Borealis. 

11.  G.  G.  Cox. 

12.  Cosco. 

13.  Charlotte. 

14.  City  of  San  Diego. 

15.  Dora  Sieward. 

16.  Diana. 

17.  E.  B.  Maroin. 

18.  Enterprise. 

19.  Fawn. 

20.  Florence  M.  Smith. 


21.  Geneva. 

22.  Henrietta. 

23.  Kate. 

24.  Kilmeny. 

25.  Katherine. 

26.  C.  D.  Rand. 

27.  Libbie. 

28.  Labrador. 

29.  Louis  Adair. 

30.  Minnie. 

31.  May  Bell. 

32.  Maud  S. 

33.  Mary  Taylor. 

34.  Mascot. 

35.  Mary  Ellen. 

36.  Mermaid. 

37.  Otto. 

38.  Ocean  Bell. 

39.  Osca  and  Hattie. 

40.  Penelope. 


41.  Pioneer. 

42.  Rosie  Olseu. 

43.  Shelby. 

44.  San  Jose. 

45.  Sapphire. 

46.  Saucy  Lass. 

47.  Sadie  Turpel. 

48.  Theresa. 

49.  Triumph. 

50.  Umbrina. 

51.  Viva. 

52.  Vera, 

53.  Venture. 
51.  AY.  B.  Hall. 

55.  AV.  P.  Sayward. 

56.  Wanderer. 

57.  Walter  L.  Rich. 

58.  AY.  A.  Earle. 

59.  Favorite. 


composing  the  American  sealing  fleet  for  1894. 


1.  Alton. 

2.  Alexander. 

3.  Anaconda. 

4.  Anna  Matilda. 

5.  Allie  I.  Alger. 

6.  Bonanza. 

7.  Bowhead. 

8.  G.  G.  White. 

9.  Emma  and  Louisa. 

10.  Emma. 

11.  Eppinger. 

12.  Edward  E.  Webster. 

13.  Ella  Johnson. 

14.  Ethel. 

15.  Geo.  Peabody. 

16.  Geo.  R.  \Vhite. 

17.  H.  C.  AVahlberg. 


18.  Henry  Dennis. 

19.  Herman. 

20.  Ada  Etta. 

21.  Jane  Grey. 

22.  Kate  and  Ann. 

23.  Louis  D. 

2-1 .  Louis  Olsen. 
!  25.  Lillie  L. 
i  26.  Josephine, 
i  27.  Mary  H.  Thomas. 
|  28.  Mascot. 

29.  Mattie  T.  Dyer. 

30.  Mathew  Turner. 

31.  Penelope. 

32.  Prescott. 

33.  Retriever. 

34.  Rattler. 


35.  Rosie  Sparks. 

36.  St.  Paul. 

37.  Sophia  Sutherland 

38.  San  Diego. 

39.  Stella  Erland. 

40.  Teresa. 

i  41.  Arolunteer. 

42.  AVillard  Ainsworth 

43.  Winchester. 
!  44.  Amature. 

45.  Columbia, 

j  46.  C.  C.  Perkins. 

!  47.  Deeahks. 

48.  Dart. 

49.  Felitz. 

50.  James  (i.  Swan. 
i  51.  Puritan. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  ROOKERIES — DECREASE  OF  SEALS. 

SEAL  ISLANDS,  ALASKA,  July  16, 1889. 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  regret  to  report  that  the  season's  seal  catch  is  pro- 
gressing very  unfavorably,  and  that  the  condition  of  the  breeding  rook- 
eries, already  past  the  date  of  fullest  occupation  for  the  year,  indicates 
a  large  falling  off  in  productiveness — much  greater,  in  fact,  than  I  have 
heretofore  reported. 

During  the  period  from  1873  to  1883,  as  my  reports  from  year  to  year 
will  show,  we  experienced  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  full  catch  of 
seals  early  in  the  season,  and  the  skins  were  all  of  the  best  marketable 
size  and  quality,  for  we  had  at  that  time  a  large  surplus  of  killable 
animals  from  which  to  make  our  selection.  It  was  customary  during 
that  period  to  secure  in  the  month  of  June  nearly  one-half  of  our 
catch,  all  of  the  primest  and  best,  and  at  the  same  time  turn  back  to 
the  rookeries  for  breeding  animals,  or  as  being  undesirable  for  market, 
a  very  large  percentage,  averaging  for  the  ten  years  in  question  per- 
haps 30  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  driven.  In  July  in  each  of  those 
years  the  percentage  of  rejected  animals  was  still  larger,  amounting 
from  50  to  80  per  cent  of  the  number  driven;  but  of  those  a  large  major- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  339 

ity  were  under  si/e  for  killing  jinti  required  the  additional  year's  growth 
that  we  were  enabled  by  the  very  abundant  supply  ot  seals  to  give 
them.  We  could  confidently  count  on  their  return  the  next  season  in 
prime  condition. 

The  season's  work  for  a  catch  of  100,000  skins  was  then  finished  from 
the  14th  to  the  20th  of  July,  determined  by  our  ability  to  do  the  work 
and  not  by  the  condition  of  the  hauling  grounds,  for  we  had  always 
seals  enough  in  sight  after  the  10th  of  June,  and  sometimes  even  earlier, 
to  keep  our  force  fully  occupied. 

The  breeding  rookeries,  from  the  beginning  ot  the  lease  till  1882  or 
1883,  were,  I  believe,  constantly  increasing  in  area  and  population,  and 
my  observations  in  this  direction  are  in  accordance  with  those  of  Mr. 
Morgan,  31  r.  Webster,  and  others  who  have  been  for  many  years  with 
me  in  your  service,  and  of  the  late  Special  Treasury  Agent  J.  M.  Mor- 
ton, who  was  on  the  islands  from  1870  to  1880.  Even  as  late  as  1885 
Special  Treasury  Agent  Tingle  reported  a  further  increase  of  breeding 
seals,  but  his  estimates  were  made  in  comparison  with  those  of  Prof. 
H.  W.  Elliott  in  1872-73,  and  he  was  probably  not  fully  aware  of  the 
fact  that  the  increase  had  occurred  prior  to  1883,  and  that  in  1885  there 
was  already  perhaps  a  slight  diminution  of  breeders. 

The  contrast  between  the  present  condition  of  seal  life  and  that  of 
the  first  decade  of  the  lease  is  so  marked  that  the  most  inexpert  can 
not  fail  to  notice  it.  Just  when  the  change  commenced  I  am  unable 
from  personal  observation  to  say,  for,  as  you  will  remember,  I  was  in 
ill  health  and  unable  to  visit  the  islands  in  1^83, 1884,  and  1885.  1  left 
the  rookeries  in  188:!  in  their  fullest  and  best  condition,  and  found  them 
in  188G  already  showing  a  slight  falling  oft",  and  experienced  that  year 
for  the  first  time  some  difficulty  in  securing  just  the  class  of  animals 
in  every  case  that  we  desired.  We,  however,  obtained  the  full  catch  in 
that  and  the  two  following  years,  finishing  the  work  from  the  24th  of 
June  to  the  7th  of  July,  but  were  obliged,  particularly  in  1888,  to  con- 
tent ourselves  with  much  smaller  seals  than  we  had  heretofore  taken. 
This  was  in  part  due  to  the  necessity  for  turning  back  to  the  rookeries 
many  half  grown  bulls,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  breeding  males.  I 
should  have  been  glad  to  have  ordered  them  killed  instead,  but,  under 
your  instructions  to  see  that  the  best  interests  of  the  rookeries  were 
conserved,  thought  best  to  reject  them.  The  result  of  killing  from  year 
to  year  a  large  and  increasing  number  of  small  animals  is  very  appar- 
ent. We  are  simply  drawing  in  advance  on  the  stock  that  should  be 
kept  over  for  another  year's  growth,  reserving  as  far  as  possible,  of 
course,  all  desirable  half-grown  bulls  for  breeders,  but  at  the  same  time 
killing  closer,  1  believe,  than  a  wise  policy  would  indicate. 

The  deduction  need  hardly  be  drawn,  as  it  is  only  too  apparent  that 
the  lessees,  for  the  next  two  or  three  years  at  least,  must,  in  any  event, 
if  the  rookeries  are  to  be  stocked  up  to  their  best  condition,  be  content 
with  very  small  catches.  I  estimate  that  not  more  than  15,000  or  20,000 
desirable  skins  can  be  obtained  next  year,  and  it  is  possible  that  taking 
even  a  much  smaller  number  would  sooner  restore  the  rookeries  to  their 
former  vitality. 

The  change  in  the  breeding  rookeries,  though  not  so  immediately 
alarming  as  that  observed  in  the  hauling  grounds,  owing  to  the  large 
number  of  seals  still  in  sight,  is  sufficiently  marked  to  excite  curious 
inquiry  as  to  its  cause.  Large  patches  of  ground  on  the  outskirts  of 
every  rookery,  which  were  covered  with  breeding  seals  and  their  young 
a  few  years  ago,  are  now  bare;  the  lanes  and  paths  across  the  rookeries, 
along  which  the  nonbreeding  seals  pass  to  and  from  their  grounds,  are 


340  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

growing  wider,  and  what  is  still  more  disturbing  to  the  experienced 
seal  hunter  there  is  a  very  noticeable  sparseness  of  population,  both 
male  and  female,  on  every  rookery.  I  should  certainly  be  within  bounds 
in  stating  that  at  least  one-third  less  seals  landed  on  the  islands  this 
year  than  ten  years  ago. 

You  will  remark  that  I  have,  at  the  beginning  of  this  statement, 
referred  back  for  comparison  only  to  ]873.  Prior  to  that  time  we  were 
suffering  from  the  excessive  killing  of  1808,  when,  in  the  absence  of  any 
restriction,  more  than  200,000  seals  were  killed  in  a  single  year.  The 
deficiency  of  male  breeding  seals,  caused  by  this  excess,  continued  for 
four  or  five  years,  and  is  referred  to  by  Special  Treasury  Agent  Bryant 
in  his  report  to  the  Department  under  date  of  September  5,  LS72.  I 
allude  to  this  only  for  the  purpose  of  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that 
any  improper  handling  of  the  seal  industry  is  immediately  followed  by 
marked  results. 

For  the  cause  of  the  present  diminution  of  seal  life  we  have  not  far 
to  look.  It  is  directly  traceable  to  the  illicit  killing  of  seals  of  every 
age  and  sex  during  the  last  few  years  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific 
and  Bering  Sea.  We  are  in  no  way  responsible  for  it.  During  the  first 
thirteen  years  of  the  lease  comparatively  few  seals  were  killed  by 
marauders,  and  we  were  then  able  not  only  to  make  good  the  deficiency 
caused  by  the  slaughter  of  1868,  but,  under  our  careful  management,  to 
produce  a  decided  expansion  of  the  breeding  rookeries. 

The  history  of  fur-seal  killing  on  the  British  Columbia  coast  would, 
no  doubt,  carry  us  back  to  an  earlier  date  than  the  transfer  of  Alaska 
to  the  United  States,  but  it  was  done  mostly  up  to  1875  by  the  use  of 
rude  appliances,  and  the  hunters  were  unable  to  pursue  their  vocation, 
to  any  great  extent,  on  the  open  sea.  About  1875-70,  under  the  stim- 
ulus of  better  prices  for  skins,  induced  by  the  improved  meth<  ds  applied 
by  us  to  the  fur  markets  of  the  world,  it  was  found  profitable  to  fit  out 
more  expensive  ventures  from  Victoria,  and  the  seals  were  followed 
along  the  British  Columbia  and  United  States  coasts  as  far  north  as 
Sitka;  but  prior  to  1882-83  it  had  not  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
hunters  that  their  work  could  be  profitably  pursued  farther  to  the 
northwestward.  The  catch  was  too  small  up  to  this  time  to  seriously 
affect  seal  life.  An  occasional  predatory  schooner  came  into  Bering  Sea 
before  1882,  and  the  San  Diego,  with  her  cargo,  was  seized  in  1876  and 
condemned  to  forfeiture  under  section  1956  of  the  United  States  laws. 
In  one  or  two  other  cases  certificates  of  probable  cause  of  seizure  were 
issued  by  the  courts  to  the  revenue  officers,  thus  affirming  the  illegal- 
ity of  killing  seals  in  Alaskan  waters. 

About  1882-83  the  British  seal  hunters  discovered  that  profitable 
voyages  could  be  made  to  Bering  Sea,  and  the  few  vessels  engaged  in 
those  years  were  soon  joined  by  others,  until,  in  1885,  a  fleet  of  twelve 
or  fifteen  schooners,  some  of  them  propelled  by  steam,  were  engaged  in 
the  business,  and  the  catch  sent  into  Victoria  amounted  to  about  25,000 
skins.  The  fleet  sent  more  than  40,000  skins  to  market  in  the  following 
year.  More  stringent  orders  were,  however,  issued  to  our  revenue  ves- 
sels, and  three  of  the  twenty  or  more  engaged  in  that  year  were  seized 
and  still  lie  rotting  on  the  beach  in  Unalaska  Harbor.  In  1887  a 
still  larger  fleet  appeared,  but  was  badly  demoralized  before  the  end  of 
the  season  by  the  capture  of  fourteen  of  the  vessels  and  the  confiscation 
and  sale  of  a  large  part  of  them,  together  with  a  large  number  of  skins; 
in  all,  some  12,000,  I  think.  Had  this  repressive  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment been  firmly  adhered  to  from  that  time  we  should  probably  be  little 
troubled  with  marauders  this  year;  but  pending  negotiations  with  for- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS.  341 

eign  powers  sealed  orders  to  be  opened  in  Bering  Sea  were  given  to 
the  revenue  officers,  directing  them  not  to  make  seizures,  and  while 
these  orders  were  withheld  from  American  hunters  they  appear  to  have 
been  published  to  the  British  fleet,  for  the  usual  number  of  British  ves- 
sels made  a  profitable  season's  cruise,  sending  into  market  more  than 
10,000  skins;  at  the  same  time  our  American  vessels  were  deterred  by 
the  tone  of  the  published  regulations  of  our  Government  from  under- 
taking their  usual  voyages. 

The  operations  of  the  marauders  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea 
beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  British  Columbia,  and  exclusive  of  what  is 
known  as  the  u  Victoria  catch  "  proper,  may  be  summarized,  not  with 
absolute  accuracy,  but  correctly  enough  for  all  practical  purposes,  about 
as  follows: 

1883,  1,000,  and  1884,  5,000  skins,  estimated  without  reliable  data  at 
hand;  1885,12,000;  1886,27,500;  1887,25,000;  and  1888,19,000  skins 
reported  by  Messrs.  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  of  London ;  1889, 10,761  skins 
to  August  1,  landed  at  Victoria,  British  Columbia. 

Add  to  this  the  Victoria  catch  for  the  same  seven  years,  which  has 
averaged  about  12,000  skins  per  annum — 84,000 — and  we  have  a  total 
of  184,261  skins  sent  to  market  in  less  than  seven  years.  To  represent 
the  destruction  of  seal  life,  this  number  should  be  nearly  doubled  to 
include  the  loss  of  one  young  seal  in  embryo  or  left  to  starve  upon  the 
islands  for  nearly  every  adult  killed;  and  again  doubled,  perhaps,  to 
compensate  for  the  unknown  factor  of  waste  in  killing.  Just  what  pro- 
portion of  seals  killed  are  actually  secured  we  do  not  know,  but  we  are 
confident  that  the  loss  of  dead  seals  in  the  rough  water  of  the  open  sea, 
and  the  wounding  and  subsequent  death  of  many  more,  is  a  large  per- 
centage of  those  taken.  Beyond  this,  we  must  also  take  into  the 
account  the  demoralization  of  the  herd,  the  infraction  of  their  steady 
migratory  habits  and  their  possible  deviation  from  their  accustomed 
haunts,  and  the  consequent  destruction  of  the  industry  within  our 
borders  if  indiscriminate  slaughter  is  continued.  I  append  a  list  of 
vessels  reported  engaged  in  sealing  the  present  season. 

1  have  at  hand  data  from  this  year  only  on  which  to  base  an  estimate 
of  the  respective  numbers  of  seals  killed  in  the  waters  of  the  North 
Pacific  and  Bering  Sea.  It  appears  that  during  the  present  season  at 
least  5,201  skins,  exclusive  of  the  catch  of  the  American  vessels,  were 
taken  after  the  sealers  left  the  Straits  of  Fuca  and  before  they  passed 
the  Alaskan  peninsula,  for  that  number  were  transshipped  to  the  British 
schooner  Wanderer  at  Sand  Point  and  sent  back  to  Victoria  to  avoid 
possible  capture  by  our  revenue  vessels.  The  British  schooners  Path- 
finder, T/Vrt,  and  Sapphire  landed  in  Victoria  their  spring  catches, 
amounting  to  1,719  skins,  early  in  June,  and  again  sent  down  by  the 
Wanderer  2,039  skins  about  the  middle  of  July.  This  latter  number 
must  have  been  captured  in  the  Pacific  in  less  than  six  weeks,  and 
many  of  them  among  the  Shumagin  Islands  and  along  the  coast  to  the 
westward  of  Kodiak,  clearly  within  American  waters. 

Attention  should  also  be  directed  to  the  fact  that  by  preconcerted 
action  all  the  British  vessels  rendezvoused  at  Sand  Point,  Ounga  Island, 
Alaska,  where  there  is  neither  port  of  entry  nor  customs  officer  sta- 
tioned, and  there,  in  utter  disregard  of  customs  law  or  international 
right,  transshipped  cargo,  received  supplies  brought  from  a  foreign 
port,  and  landed  and  sold  whisky  to  the  Alaska  natives. 

Until  the  present  season  we  have  been  under  the  impression  that  the 
catching  of  seals  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific  would  be  difficult 
and  unprofitable,  and  that  seal  life  could  be  preserved  by  maintaining 


342  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

the  closure  of  Bering  Sea.  Now,  however,  it  seems  doubtful  whether 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  extend  protection  over  the  waters  of  the 
North  Pacific. 

Of  course  it  will  be  asked  if  this  can  be  legally  effected;  I  see  no 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  doing  it.  We  would  have  no  difficulty  whatever 
in  proving  to  the  satisfaction  of  any  fair-minded  nation  that  all  the 
seals  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  are  born 
and  reared  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  those  in  the  western  part  of 
the  same  waters  have  their  habitat  on  the  Commander  Islands;  nor  do 
they  resort  for  breeding  to  any  other  than  these  two  places  in  the  North- 
ern Hemisphere,  excepting  only  the  very  small  number  found  on  Rob- 
ben  Island  in  the  Okhotsk  Sea.  They  can  be  positively  identified  as 
our  property.  The  seals  found  in  these  respective  places  differ  so  much 
that  expert  skin  assorters  can  distinguish  between  them  in  handling 
the  skins;  and,  in  any  event,  this  matter  concerns  only  the  United 
States  and  Eussia.  When  the  seals  on  which  the  British  are  now  poach- 
ing are  found  in  the  Pacific  they  are  simply  astray;  but  are,  neverthe- 
less, either  our  property  or  that  of  Eussia,  and  should  be  respected  and 
protected  as  such. 

After  twenty  one  years  of  careful  study  of  the  subject,  I  am  entirely 
satisfied  that  the  usual  migratory  course  of  the  seals  leads  them  to  the 
southward  from  the  Pribilof  Islands,  mostly  through  the  passes  into 
the  Pacific,  to  the  eastward  of  and  including  the  pass  of  longitude  172° 
west;  thence  they  turn  to  the  eastward  along  the  Aleutian  Archipelago, 
through  the  Shumagin  group,  and  past  Kodiak,  to  appear  in  February 
and  March  down  about  Vancouver  Island  and  in  the  straits  and  chan- 
nels to  the  northward  and  eastward  of  Vancouver,  where  large  numbers 
are  annually  killed  in  the  early  spring  months.  The  more  notable  proofs 
of  this  are: 

(1)  That  many  young  seals  are  killed  in  November,  December,  and 
January  by  the  Alaskans  among  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  more  could 
and  would  be  taken  if  the  natives  were  not  restrained  by  our  agents 
from  hunting  them. 

(2)  Fur  seals  are  fish  eaters  and  naturally  keep  upon  such  banks  and 
shoals,  within  easy  soundings,  as  furnish  them  an  abundant  food  supply. 

(3)  They  are  rarely  seen  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific  at  any 
considerable  distance  from  soundings,  but  are  plentiful  along  the  Alas- 
kan coast  during  all  the  winter  months. 

(4)  A  large  proportion  of  the  several  thousand  seals  killed  annually 
about  the  British  Columbia  coast  in  March  and  April  are  pregnant 
females  in  just  that  stage  of  gestation  that  would  be  expected  in  ani- 
mals whose  period  of  eleven  months  terminates  in  June. 

(5)  Almost  simultaneously  with  their  disappearance  from  the  British 
Columbia  coast  in  April  they  are  again  found  in  increasing  numbers  in 
the  Aleutian  Archipelago  and,  a  little  later,  in  Bering  Sea. 

(6)  The  most  careful  search  for  other  breeding  grounds  than  those  at 
the  Pribilof  Islands  has  been  fruitless.     It  can  be  positively  asserted 
that  none  exist. 

The  best  season  for  marauding  in  Bering  Sea  is  the  latter  part  of 
July  and  August,  for  the  female  seals,  having  left  their  young  on  the 
islands,  are  then  off  on  the  feeding  grounds  to  the  southward,  and  the 
destruction  of  the  mother  at  this  time  is  followed  by  the  loss  of  the  pup, 
which  dies  for  want  of  nourishment.  This  was  vividly  illustrated  in 
the  heavy  storms  of  last  fall,  when  several  thousand  pups,  too  weak  and 
feeble  to  withstand  their  violence,  were  thrown  upon  the  beaches  and 
killed.  In  the  earlier  years  of  the  lease  no  such  destruction  of  the  young 
was  observed  during  the  autumn  storms  as  we  have  lately  witnessed. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  343 

The  greater  part  of  the  illegal  killing  is  done  with  firearms,  but  some 
of  the  vessels  manned  by  Indians,  and  notably  the  Black  Diamond, 
seized  this  summer,  are  iitted  only  with  spears,  and  these,  skillfully 
handled,  are  even  more  effective  than  guns,  as  they  can  be  used  with- 
out alarming  the  neighboring  seals.  The  crew  of  the  Black  Diamond 
secured  143  skins  in  less  than  two  days  preceding  her  capture.  It  is 
also  regarded  by  old  hunters  as  quite  feasible  to  catch  them  still  more 
rapidly  and  surely  by  the  use  of  seines  and  purse  nets,  though  I  am 
not  aware  the  attempt  has  as  yet  been  made. 

The  effect  of  this  extensive  and  indiscriminate  slaughter  I  have 
already  pointed  out.  If  unrestricted  killing  is  to  be  continued  we  have 
no  occasion  to  inquire  in  regard  to  any  further  franchise.  The  renewal 
of  the  lease  would  hardly  be  worth  taking  as  a  gift,  and  with  the  assur- 
ance of  fullest  protection  against  marauders  and  poachers,  the  fact 
should  not  be  lost  sight  of  that  under  the  most  intelligent  management 
some  years  must  elapse  before  the  rookeries  can  be  restored  to  their 
former  productiveness.  The  protection,  too,  must  extend  beyond  Ber- 
ing Sea  and  over  the  Korth  Pacific  to  insure  perpetuation  of  the  indus- 
try; and  ought,  indeed,  in  order  to  make  it  complete,  to  include  all  the 
waters  along  the  British  Columbia  coast,  for  even  the  comparatively 
small  number  killed  there  is  no  inconsiderable  item  to  the  lessees  in  the 
present  status  of  the  rookeries. 

Different  plans  for  the  preservation  of  the  seals  are  suggested: 

1.  It  is  certainly  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  world,  excepting  a  few 
Canadian  seal  hunters,  that  the  seals  should  be  propagated  and  killed 
under  proper  restrictions.    This  is  particularly  true  for  the  English,  for 
they  have  more  capital  invested  in  the  business  and  more  people 
dependent  upon  the  seal  industry  than  any  other  nation.     If.  therefore, 
a  territorial  limit  can  be  defined  beyond  which  no  seals  shall  be  killed 
in  the  water,  such  limit  being  agreed  upon  by  convention  with  England 
and  Russia,  and  acquiesced  in  by  the  powers  that  have  nothing  at 
stake  in  the  matter,  protection  will  be  afforded  to  such  an  extent  as  the 
limit  proves  restrictive.     My  own  idea  is  that  it  should  cover  all  the 
aquatic  resorts  of  the  seals,  but  if  it  be  decided  that  British  Columbia 
hunters  are  right  in  killing  seals  in  British  Columbia  waters,  then  the 
limits  might  be  defined,  say,  by  restricting  their  operations  to  the  east- 
ward of  longitude  153°  west  from  Greenwich,  to  the  southward  of  lati- 
tude 54°  north,  and  to  the  northward  of  Cape  Flattery.     If  at  the 
same  time  restrictions  are  needed  for  the  protection  of  Russian  inter- 
ests in  the  Northwestern  Pacific,  similar  limitations,  as  the  facts  may 
indicate,  may  be  marked  out  and  seal  life  respected  at  all  points  beyond 
such  limits. 

2.  If  restriction  by  territorial  limitation  is  likely  to  be  difficult  to 
enforce,  or  if  for  any  other  reason  it  appears  objectionable,  a  close  season 
could  be  agreed  upon  by  convention  within  which  no  seals  should  be 
killed  in  the  water.     Such  season  should  begin,  if  it  be  determined  to 
allow  seals  to  be  killed  in  British  Columbia  waters,  at  about  the  time 
when  the  seals  leave  the  vicinity  of  Vancouver  Island  in  the  spring  and 
continue  until  the  next  winter,  say  about  the  middle  of  May  until  about 
the  1st  of  February. 

3.  To  facilitate  the  enforcement  of  the  regulation,  both  the  territorial 
limitation  and  close  season  might  be  adopted.    The  vast  extent  of 
water  to  be  patrolled,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  the  seals  are  pur- 
sued, make  it  necessary  to  throw  every  possible  safeguard  around  them 
if  they  are  to  be  preserved. 

It  would  unquestionably  be  unwise,  from  a  financial  point  of  view,  on 


344  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

the  part  of  any  of  tbe  nations  interested,  to  allow  pregnant  female  seals 
(and  scarcely  any  other  are  taken  there)  to  be  killed  on  the  British 
Columbia  coast;  but,  if  something  must  be  conceded  to  the  poachers, 
perhaps  the  opportunity  to  pursue  their  destructive  occupation  along 
this  coast  is  the  least  that  will  reasonably  content  them. 

In  the  present  status  of  the  seal  fishery  the  value  of  a  renewal  of  the 
franchise  for  another  term  of  twenty  years  is  very  difficult  to  estimate. 
The  outlook  for  the  next  three  or  four  years  is  decidedly  bad.  The 
chief  elements  of  uncertainty  are: 

(1)  Doubt  as  to  the  intention  of  our  Government  in  regard  to  pro- 
tecting the  fisheries  against  poachers. 

(2)  Question  whether,  in  case  a  restrictive  policy  is  decided  upon,  the 
Government  will  be  able  to  successfully  patrol  the  broad  extent  over 
which  the  seals  are  scattered.     A  failure  to  protect  them  without  fur- 
ther delay  will  be  fatal  to  any  considerable  catch  on  the  islands. 

(3)  The  fact  that  the  rookeries  are  already  badly  depleted,  and  that 
all  the  best  seals,  for  the  next  two  or  three  years  at  least,  must  be 
reserved  for  breeders. 

(4)  The  positive  knowledge  that  the  seals  that  would  otherwise  come 
forward  for  killing  during  the  next  two  years  have  already  been  slaugh- 
tered, and  that  the  catch  must  for  several  years  to  come  be  much 
smaller  than  heretofore. 

I  was  of  opinion  two  years  ago  that  the  next  twenty  years'  lease 
could  be  more  valuable  than  the  present  term,  but  am  now  greatly  in 
doubt  whether  we  can  afford  to  pay  as  much  as  the  present  rental,  even 
with  a  guaranty  from  the  Government  of  entire  protection  outside  of 
British  Columbia  waters.  Without  such  guaranty  there  is  "nothing  in 
it"  beyond  a  small  prospective  catch  from  such  animals  as  may  escape 
the  toils  of  the  hunter  this  summer.  At  the  present  rate  of  diminution 
the  rookeries  will  soon  do  little  more  than  support  the  natives  dependent 
on  them  and  pay  the  expenses  of  the  necessary  outfit  to  follow  the 
business. 

Very  truly,  yours,  H.  H.  M  C!NTYRE, 

Superintendent. 
The  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  COMPANY, 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 


CAUSES   OF   DECREASE   IN   SEAL   HERD. 

WEST  RANDOLPH,  VT.,  December  It,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  at  hand  extracts  from  the  report  of  Prof.  H. 
W.  Elliott  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  the  fall  of  1890,  relative 
to  the  decrease  of  the  seal  rookeries  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  islands, 
Alaska;  and  knowing  that  you  take  a  deep  interest  in  the  matter,  beg 
to  call  your  attention  to  a  few  conspicuous  errors  into  which  he  has 
fallen. 

He  asks,  "  Why  is  it  that  we  find  now  only  a  scant  tenth  of  the  num- 
ber of  young  male  seals  which  I  saw  there  in  1872  ?  When  did  this 
work  of  decrease  and  destruction  so  marked  on  the  breeding  grounds 
begin?  And  how?  n  He  answers  these  questions  as  follows: 

(1)  From  overdriving,  without  heeding  its  warning,  first  begun  in  1879,  dropped 
then  until  1882,  then  suddenly  renewed  again  with  increased  energy  from  year  to 
year,  until  the  end  is  abruptly  reached,  this  season  of  1890. 

(2)  From  the  shooting  of  fur  seals  (chiefly  females)  in  the  open  waters  of  the  North 
Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea,  begun  as  a  business  in  1886,  and  continued  to  date. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Professor  Elliott  is  ti  naturalist,  and  a  very  good  one.  He  is  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  the  size,  form,  color,  comparative  anatomy,  domes- 
tic habits,  and  whatever  goes  to  make  up  the  natural  history  of  the 
seal.  He  is  tolerably  familiar  with  the  seal  as  viewed  from  the  hunter 
or  business  man's  standpoint.  He  is  also  fairly  capable  of  deducing  from 
given  facts  a  theory  in  regard  to  the  increase  or  decrease  of  the  seal. 
Given  correct  premises,  he  would  perhaps  come  as  near  the  truth  in 
his  deduction  as  the  average  observer.  But  when  his  premises  are 
wrong,  his  deductions  are  more  mischievous  than  those  of  the  average 
niaii,  because  he  asseverates  his  findings  with  such  positiveness,  and 
such  an  air  of  knowing  all  about  it,  as  to  carry  the  investigator  along 
with  him  to  the  pitfalls  digged  by  theory  from  wrong  hypotheses. 

He  says,  in  brief,  that  there  was  overdriving  in  1879,  none  in  the  two 
following  years,  beginning  again  in  188U  and  continuing  "until  the  end 
is  abruptly  reached  in  the  season  of  1890."  As  he  writes  forcibly  in 
the  same  connection  against  the  practice  of  driving  the  long  distance 
from  Southwest  Bay  (Zapadnie)  to  the  village  killing  ground — about  4 
miles — pointing  out  most  disastrous  effects  from  this  practice,  I  suppose 
he  means  by  "overdriving"  the  driving  too  great  distance.  If  this  is 
it  1  quite  agree  with  him,  and  always  have,  and  for  that  reason,  except 
on  very  rare  occasions,  did  not  allow  seals  to  be  driven  the  long  dis- 
tances he  describes,  and  it  has  never  been  habitually  done.  Boats  were 
almost  invariably  sent  to  Southwest  Bay  and  carts  to  Halfway  Point 
to  bring  in  the  skins,  and  the  animals  were  as  invariably  killed,  dur- 
ing the  last  ten  years  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company's  lease,  as 
near  the  rookeries  as  seemed  prudent.  The  windmill  he  fights  through 
several  paragraphs  of  alleged  "reasons'7  is  less  worthy  of  attack  than 
Don  Quixote's.  Jt  exists  only  in  his  imagination. 

Then,  the  end  was  not  lk abruptly  reached."  I  repeatedly  pointed  out 
to  our  company  and  to  the  special  Treasury  agents,  during  the  seasons 
of  1887,  1888,  and  1889,  that  the  seals  were  rapidly  diminishing,  and 
that  in  order  to  get  the  full  quota  allowed  by  law  we  were  obliged  to 
kill,  in  increasing  numbers  in  each  of  those  years,  animals  that  should 
have  been  allowed  to  attain  greater  size;  and,  finally,  the  catch  of  1889 
was  mostly  of  this  class.  If  they  had  been  contented  with  the  same 
class  in  1890  a  much  larger  catch  could  have  been  obtained. 

Again  he  is  in  error  in  saying  that  marauding  in  Bering  Sea  began 
in  1880.  It  commenced  in  1884  with  a  catch  of  4,000  skins,  and  was 
followed  with  a  take  of  almost  10,000  in  1885. 

This  brings  us  to  the  second  reason  given  by  him  for  the  decrease,  to 
wit,  "the  shooting  of  seals  (mostly  females)  in  the  open  waters  of  the 
Korth  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea."  And  here  he  strikes  the  key 
note  of  what  should  have  been  his  warning,  but  he  strikes  it  so  flat  as 
to  throw  his  chorus  quite  out  of  tune;  but  he  was  not  there  present  on 
the  islands  during  any  of  those  six  years  of  active  poaching  prior  to 
the  season  just  past,  nor,  in  fact,  for  several  years  previous  to  those  six 
years,  and  does  not  know  what  he  is  talking  about.  His  second  "  reason  " 
should  have  been  his  first,  and  I  assert  most  positively,  with  knowledge 
drawn  from  an  accurate  personal  cognizance  of  the  facts,  that  the  dimi- 
nution of  the  seal  was  exactly  coincident  in  the  time  of  the  decrease, 
and  in  its  ratio  from  year  to  year,  with  the  time  and  extent  of  the  pirat- 
ical marauding  of  the  Canadian  and  American  vessels  in  the  waters  of 
Bering  Sea,  and  prior  to  the  beginning  of  such  marauding  was  not 
perceptible  and  did  not  exist. 

I  regret  that  Professor  Elliott  did  not  urge  this  one  true  reason  with 
all  the  strong  force  of  which  he  is  capable,  because  it  is  fully  time  that 


346  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

the  serious  import  to  the  seal  fisheries  of  further  poaching  was  under- 
stood by  our  Government,  premising  always  that  it  is  really  in  earnest 
about  what  it  is  doing  to  preserve  the  fisheries,  which,  indeed,  I  find 
myself  already  doubting. 

I  am,  very  truly,  yours, 

H.  H.  MclNTYRE. 
Gen.  N.  L.  JEFFRIES, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


LETTER   FROM   SECRETARY   OF   TREASURY   TRANSMITTING  ELLIOTT'S 

REPORT  TO  STATE  DEPARTMENT. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY, 
Washington,  I).  C.,  February  23,  1893. 

SIR:  In  compliance  with  the  request  contained  in  your  communica- 
tion of  February  11,  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  certified 
copy  (together  with  the  photographic  reproductions  of  the  illustrations 
and  maps)  of  the  report  of  H.  W.  Elliott  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  for 
1890.  The  original  of  this  report  will  be  placed  in  the  custody  of 
Special  Agent  W.  H.  Williams  for  such  use  as  you  may  find  necessary. 

In  handing  you  this  report  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  acquaint  you  with 
certain  facts  in  connection  with  my  refusal  to  permit  its  publication. 

Upon  its  examination  I  became  convinced  that  it  was  pervaded  by  a 
spirit  of  aggressive  criticism  instead  of  being  a  dispassionate  statement 
of  facts  5  that  Mr.  Elliott's  views  had  been  unduly  influenced  by  his 
relations  toward  certain  individuals;  that  the  report  contained  much 
matter,  and  particularly  that  referring  to  the  fur  seal,  which  had  already 
been  published  by  the  Government  in  two  forms  at  least ;  that  the  illus- 
trations being  made  from  sketches  possessed  inherent  defects  which 
rendered  them  valueless  as  records  of  the  diminution  or  growth  of  the 
rookeries,  while  the  scale  of  the  rookery  charts  was  too  small  to  accu- 
rately indicate  the  condition  of  seal  life  at  the  time  these  observations 
were  made. 

I  therefore  declined  to  permit  Mr.  Elliott's  return  to  the  islands,  and 
deemed  it  expedient  to  withhold  publication  of  his  report  pending  the 
sending  of  other  officers  to  the  islands  for  the  verification  of  his  state- 
ments and  for  the  procuring  of  data  on  a  systematic  plan,  aided  by 
photography. 

On  further  examining  Mr.  Elliott's  report  in  the  light  of  this  addi- 
tional information  and  comparing  his  statements  with  the  island  records 
now  on  file  in  this  Department,  I  find  that  not  only  do  the  objections 
against  the  report  cited  above  still  hold  good,  but  that  Mr.  Elliott  has 
so  used  extracts  from  the  records  of  the  islands  as  to  make  them  appear 
to  substantiate  his  assertions  that  mismanagement  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  has  played  an  important  part  in  the  diminution  of  seal 
life,  which  assertions  are  unsupported  by  the  unabridged  records.  In 
view  of  its  inaccuracies,  its  misleading  character,  and  its  disagreement 
with  the  information  brought  to  me  independently  by  at  least  three 
other  officers  whom  I  sent  to  the  islands,  and  the  further  grave  fact  of 
the  misuse  of  official  data  by  Mr.  Elliott,  I  dp  not  believe  that  the 
Government  would  be  justified  in  publishing  this  report. 
Very  respectfully, 

CHARLES  FOSTER,  Secretary. 

Hon.  JOHN  W.  FOSTER, 

Secretary  of  State. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS.  347 

MR.   PHELP'S   ARGUMENT   BEFORE   PARIS  TRIBUNAL. 

I. 

On  April  4,  1893,  Mr.  Phelps  made  to  the  Tribunal  the  following 
statement  in  regard  to  Mr.  Elliott's  report  of  1890: 

This  paper  was  produced  and  furnished  to  the  British  commissioners  during  their 
session  at  Washington  and  remained  in  their  possession  as  long  as  they  cared  to  keep 
it.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  there  has  been  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  United. 
States  Government  to  withhold  or  to  conceal  this  document. 

II. 

The  report  is  of  little  value  as  an  authority  and  quite  as  likely  to 
mislead  as  to  guide.  The  author  is  utterly  untrustworthy  as  an 
observer. 

(1)  His  field  notes  show  this  on  their  face:  A  field  note  should  be  a 
bare  and  clear  and  uncolored  record  of  facts  observed.    These  are  a 
record   not  only  of  facts,  but   of  conjectures,  opinions,  predictions, 
reflections,  emotions,  etc. 

An  observer  should  be  severely  objective.  Elliott  is  always  sub- 
jective. It  is  his  own  conjectures  and  reasonings  which  he  is  most 
concerned  with.  A  perusal  of  pages  236  and  237  (entry  of  July  10)  will 
afford  amusing  proof  of  this. 

(2)  It  is  the  misfortune  of  Mr.  Elliott  and  of  those  who  rely  upon 
him  that  he  has  written  at  different  times  on  the  subject  of  fur  seals, 
and  his  representations  of  the  facts   at  these  different   times  vary 
in  some  cases  according  to  the  theories  which  he  was  interested  to 
establish. 

Thus,  in  1872-1874,  he  observed  that  a  certain  detached  rock  or  islet 
was  then  covered  with  the  forms  of  fur  seals;  but  in  1800,  writing  with 
the  purpose  of  showing  that  injurious  redriving  was  practiced,  he  repre- 
sents that  the  presence  of  seals  at  this  place  was  a  wholly  recent 
phenomenon,  occasioned  by  a  too  severe  working  of  the  neighboring 
sealing  grounds. 

(3)  His  assertions  of  important  matters  of  fact  are  shown  to  be  errone- 
ous by  evidence  far  better  than  his.     For  instance,  in  his  report  for 
1890  he  represents  certain  places  which  on  his  earlier  visits  he  found 
abounding  in  young  seals  to  be  absolutely  destitute  of  them,  whereas 
it  is  proved  by  the  records  of  the  islands  that  at  those  very  times  young 
seals  were  driven  and  killed  from  those  same  places. 

Thus  he  writes  July  19,  1890:  "Not  a  single  holluschak  on  Zoltoi 
Sands  this  morning  and  not  one  had  hauled  "there  this  season/7  The 
official  records  for  1890  (British  case,  Appendix,  Vol.  Ill,  United  States, 
No.  2.  1890,  pp.  Ill,  23)  show:  (a]  That  on  that  very  day  3,956  seals 
were  driven  from  Zoltoi  in  connection  with  Reef  rookeries,  of  which 
number  55(>  were  killed;  (b)  that  a  drive  had  already  been  made  from 
those  same  places  June  24,  on  which  occasion  426  seals  were  killed. 

(4)  Mr.  Elliott  appears  to  be  guilty  of  great  inaccuracy  in  quoting 
statements  which  have  been  made  to  him.     Thus  he  attributes  to  Daniel 
Webster  the  following: 

He  says  that  ever  since  1876-77  he  has  observed  a  steady  shrinking  of  the  hauling 
grounds  at  Northeast  Point. 

In  the  United  States  case  (Appendix,  Vol.  II,  p.  181),  Daniel  Webster 
makes,  however,  a  sworn  statement  which  is  wholly  at  variance  with  the 
above : 

My  observation  has  been  that  there  was  an  expansion  of  the  rookeries  from  1870  up 
to  at  least  1879.  In  the  year  1880  I  thought  I  began  to  notice  a  falling  off  from  the 


348  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

year  previous  of  the  number  of  seals  on  Northeast  Point  rookery,  but  this  decrease 
was  so  very  slight  that  probably  it  would  not  have  been  observed  by  one  less  familiar 
with  seal  life  and  its  conditions  than  I. 

(5)  As  a  reasoner  he  is  equally  bad.    He  is  dominated  by  a  favorite 
theory,  and  when  this  comes  in  collision  with  facts  he  can  not  yield  the 
former,  and  is  consequently  constrained  to  accommodate  the  latter  to  it. 

(6)  The  counsel  for  Great  Britain,  in  order  to  establish  credit  for 
Mr.  Elliott  as  an  authority,  point  to  the  circumstance  that  Mr.  Elaine 
referred  to  him  with  respect  in  his  letter  of  March  1, 1890.     Mr.  Blame 
was,  undoubtedly,  as  many  others  were  upon  the  first  appearance  of  Mr. 
Elliott  as  a  writer  upon  seals,  under  the  impression  that  he  was  a  trust- 
worthy witness.    But  such  was  not,  at  that  time,  the  view  of  those 
representing  the  British  Government. 

In  order  to  discredit  Mr.  Elliott  as  a  theorist  and  reasoner,  Mr.  Tapper 
cites,  in  a  letter  dated  March  8,  1890  (British  case,  Appendix,  Vol.  Ill, 
United  States,  No.  2,  1890,  p.  441),  the  following  criticism  made  upon 
Mr.  Elliott  by  Mr.  W.  L.  Morris  in  1879: 

This  man  seems  to  be  the  natural  foe  of  Alaska,  prosecuting  and  persecuting  her 
with  the  brush  and  the  pen  of  an  expert  whenever  and  wherever  he  can  get  an  audi- 
ence, and  I  attribute  the  present  forlorn  condition  of  the  Territory  more  to  his 
ignorance  and  misrepresentation  than  to  all  other  causes  combined. 

Mr.  Tapper  then  goes  on  to  say: 

His  evidence  in  1888  is  open  advocacy  of  the  United  States  contention.  His  writ- 
ings and  reports  prior  to  the  dispute  will  be  referred  to,  and  it  will  be  submitted  that 
his  statements  and  experiences  before  1888  hardly  support  his  later  theories. 

(7)  Dr.  Dawson's  (one  of  the  British  commissioners)  estimate  of  Pro- 
fessor Elliott  in  the  fall  of  1891  is  thus  told  by  Judge  Swan  (United 
States  counter  case,  p.  414),  who  quotes  Dr.  Dawson  as  follows: 

Elliott's  work  on  seals  is  amusing.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  there  is  no 
important  point  that  he  takes  up  in  his  book  that  he  does  not  contradict  somewhere 
else  in  the  same  covers.  His  work  is  superficial  in  the  extreme. 

III. 

The  avowed  purpose  of  Mr.  Elliott  in  this  report  of  1890  is  to  show 
that  the  Alaskan  herd  has  been  generally  diminished  in  numbers  and 
to  point  out  the  causes  of  the  diminution. 

The  only  true  cause  of  this  decrease  which  can  be  gathered  from  any 
facts  stated  by  him  is  pelagic  sealing;  but  he  has  a  theory  that  there 
is  another  cause,  namely,  overdriving  and  redriviug,  which  he  assumes, 
not  only  without  proof,  but  against  the  proof,  to  have  been  practiced 
to  a  considerable  extent  for  a  long  period  of  time  prior  to  1890. 

It  is  important  to  understand  just  what  he  means  by  overdriving  and 
redriving.  He  does  not  mean  careless  handling  or  undue  urging  of  the 
seals  during  any  given  drive,  for  he  specially  states  that  the  drives 
were  and  are  very  carefully  made  (infra,  under  fourth,  3). 

What  he  does  mean  by  his  charges  concerning  overdriving  is  this: 
That  in  the  face  of  a  diminishing  number  of  seals  it  was  still  endeavored 
to  take  100,000  skins  per  annum,  which  necessitated,  at  a  date  as  early 
as  1884  to  1885,  the  following: 

Driving  from  the  rookery  margins,  where  alone  the  young  males  were 
found  in  these  later  years,  with  consequent  disturbance  to  the  breeding 
seals. 

The  turning  away  from  the  killing  grounds  of  an  increasing  number 
of  unkillable  seals,  which  seals  ran  the  risk  of  being  several  times 
redriven  in  the  same  season. 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


349 


(b)  Wlieu  did  this  scraping  of  the  rookery  margins  and  overdriving 
begin?    There  is  no  evidence  that  either  began  prior  to  1890.     Elliott 
failed  to  observe  or  record  either  between  187U  and  1S7U.    He  advances 
in  his  report  of  1890  no  evidence  whatever  on  the  subject,  though  lie 
alleges  at  a  single  place  that  the  natives  assured  him  u  that  they  had 
been  driving  seals  in  this  method  ever  since  1885;  had  been  obliged  to 
or  go  without  seals." 

This  statement  attributed  to  the  natives  is  wholly  uncorroborated, 
nor  does  "it  appear  in  their  examinations,  which  are  given  at  pages  300 
to  304;  that  it  is  in  conflict  with  the  evidence  of  Mr.  Goff  will  be  shown 
hereafter. 

(c)  Mr.  Elliott  thinks  that  the  necessity  which  leads  to  overdriving, 
namely,  a  scarcity  of  killable  males,  began  to  exhibit  itself  as  early  as 
1879,  and  in  proof  of  this  he  alleges  that  a  hitherto  untouched  reserve 
was  then  resorted  to,  namely,  Zapadnie.     Furthermore,  he  supposes 
that  this  scarcity  of  killable  seals,  making  redriving  essentially  neces- 
sary, was  decisively  manifested  in  18»SU  and  continually  thereafter  by 
the  fact  that  a  constant  resort  was  from  that  time  made  to  theretofore 
"untouched  sources  of  supply"  (VI,  VIII,  IX).     In  this  particular  also 
he  is  totally  in  error.    No  such  supposed  "untouched  sources  of  supply'7 
then,  or  ever,  existed.     Zapadnie  and  Polavina  are  intended  by  him. 
They  had  been  systematically  drawn  upon  from  the  first.     (Vol.  II, 
Appendix  to  United  States  case,  pp.  117-127;  United  States  counter 
case,  pp.  78,  79.) 

Mr.  Elliott's  error  in  this  respect  is  the  more  inexcusable,  since  the 
official  island  records  were  at  his  disposal  and  appear  to  have  been 
examined  by  him.  The  following  tables  showing  the  drives  that  were 
actually  made  from  Zapadnie  and  Polavina  are  taken  from  the  British 
argument,  page  103 : 


Southwest 

V«ir                                    BilV  'in' 

chiding 
Zapadnie). 

Halfway 
Point 
(Polavina). 

Year. 

Southwest 
Bay  (in- 
cluding 
Zapadnie). 

Halfway 
Point 
(Polavina). 

1871                                                              4 

1 

1881 

5 

4 

187''                                                              1 

1 

1882 

10 

5 

1873  3 

0 

1883 

9 

5 

1874                                                              6 

o 

1884 

9 

9 

1875                              .             '•                   1 

1 

1885 

6 

g 

i876  8 

1 

1886 

12 

9 

1877                                                              6 

3 

1887 

g 

Q 

1878                          ...                                6 

3 

1888 

g 

g 

1879  7 

3 

1889 

g 

7 

1880                                                           5 

4 

(In  examining  tables  in  the  United  States  case,  Appendix  Vol.  II, 
pp.  117-127,  it  should  be  remembered  that  "Zapadnie"  and  "Southwest 
Bay"  are  two  names  for  the  same  place,  and  so  also  are  "Polavina" 
and  "Halfway  Point,"  the  latter  term  being  the  English  for  Polavina.) 

(d)  Upon  this  basis  of  utter  misapprehension  Elliott  proceeds  forth- 
with to  construct  a  theory,  and  his  theory  as  far  outruns  his  supposed 
facts  as  those  supposed  facts  do  the  truth.    For  he  proceeds  to  assume 
that  the  driving  and  redriving  of  seals  have  been  gradually  increasing 
from  year  to  year  and  very  rapidly  since  1884-85,  that  the  process  of 
driving  in  any  form  renders  those  seals  which  are  turned  back  from  the 
killing  grounds  worthless  for  rookery  service,  and  that  the  work  of 
destruction  thereby  produced  "set  in  from  the  beginning,  twenty  years 
before  1890"  (pp.  7  to  10). 

(e)  He  introduces  no  proof  that  driving;  overdriving,  or  redriving  of 
any  sort  ever  injured  the  generative  organs  of  a  seal  which  was  allowed 


3f)U  SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PHIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

eventually  to  return  to  the  water,  save  the  following  (see  pp.  130,  I'Oo, 
L'71),  which  lie  has  mistranslated  from  Venianiinof.  But  here,  too,  be 
has  led  himself  into  error: 


Nearly  all  the  old  men  think  and  assert  Nearly  all  the  old  travelers  think  and 

that    the    ->eals    which    are    spared    every  assert    that    sparing    the    seals    for    some 

year.    i.   e.,   those    which    have    not    been  years,    i.e.,   not    killing    them    for    some, 

killed  for  several  years,  are  truly  of  little  years,  does  not  contribute  in  the  least  to 

ti>e  for   breeding.  1\  ing  about    as    it'  they  their  increase  and  only  amounts  to  losing 

were  outcasts  or  disfranchised.  them  forever. 

Venianiinof  thus  makes  no  reference  whatever  to  driving,  still  less 
does  he  refer  to  any  supposed  effects  of  driving  upon  the  reproductive 
powers  of  the  seal. 

It  should  be  added  that  both  the  British  commissioners  and  the 
British  Government  have  been  misled  by  Klliott's  erroneous  translation. 
(See  British  Commissioners'  Report,  sec.  712.  and  British  counter  case, 
p.  Hi;:5. 

(  /'  i  The  notion  that  the  mere  driving  of  a  seal  even  over  rough  ground 
renders  it  impotent  is  in  itself  sufficiently  absurd,  but  it  becomes  still 
more'  so  when  considered  in  connection  with  the  following  extract  from 
Mr.  Klliott's  tield  notes  (p.  L'44): 

I  have  sat  for  hours  at  a  time  watching  the  seals  come  up  and  go  down  in  ceaseless 
tiles  of  hundred^  and  thousands,  actually  climbing  up  in  places  so  steep  that  it  was 
all  an  agile  man  could  do  to  follow  them  safely. 

(</}  It  follows  from  the  above  that  so  far  as  Klliott's  report  is  relied 
on  to  show  considerable  cause  of  injury  to  the  herd,  it  fails  entirely. 
His  belief  upon  this  point  was  founded  upon  an  utter  mistake,  assuming 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  be  misled.  lie  never  saw  any  redriving  or 
overdriving  until  isiiOiwhcn  it  did  exist) ;  nor  had  any  other  witness 
ever  seen  any  worthy  of  notice  previous  to  1S!)0. 

The  counsel  for  Great  Britain,  seeking  for  another  evidence  to  prove 
redriving.  have  recourse  to  the  report  of  Mr.  Got'f  for  1SDO.  But  he 
disproves  the  assertion  by  distinctly  contrasting  the  large  numbers  of 
young  seals  turned  back  in  istMl.  with  the  small  number  theretofore 
turned  back,  i  British  counter  case.  p.  *2\\~).\ 

// ,  Kliminating  this  clear  and  manifest  error  from  Klliott's  report, 
the  latter  proves,  and  alone  proves  the  following:  That  in  1S7--1S74  the 
herd  was  in  a  condition  of  full  and  abounding  prosperity ;  that  when  lie 
next  observed  it  in  1*7<5,  its  condition  was  not  perceptibly  changed; 
that  in  IS'jn,  when  he  last  observed  il.it  had  become  greatly  diminished 
in  numbers,  so  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  obtain  the  quota  of  100,000 
\\  it  hoi  it  redriving. 

And  this  is  just  what  the  ( 'nited  States  have  from  the  lirst  maintained. 

IV. 

1 1  is  melange  of  observations,  reasonings,  conjectures,  predictions,  and 
criticisms,  when  scrut mixed,  \\  ill  be  found  to  support  the  positions  of  the 
(,'nited  States  in  nearly  every  particular,  certainly  in  each  of  tlie  fol- 
lowing : 

'1,  That  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  ( 'nited  States  and  it s  lessees  under 
normal  conditions  to  gather  the  whole  annual  increase  of  the  seals 
without  diminishing  the  noi  mal  numbers  of  the  herd. 

Page  ('.'.*:  I'he  polygamous  habit  of  this  animal  is  such  that,  by  its  own  volition.  I 
do  not  think  that  more  than  one  male  annually  out  of  fifteen  born  is  needed  on  the 
breed  in ^  grou  nds  in  1  h 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  351 

I'age  118:  In  this  admirably  perfect  method  of  nature  art?  tints*-,  seals  which  can  be 
properly  killed  without  injury  to  the  rookeries,  selected  and  held  aside  by  their  own 
volition,  so  that  the  natives  can  visit  and  take  them  without  disturbing  in  the  least 
degree  the  entire  quiet  of  the  breeding  grounds  where  the  stock  is  perpetuated. 

Page  12M:  When  the  "  holluschiekie7'  are  up  on  land  they  can  be  readily  separated 
into  their  several  classes  as  to  age  by  the  color  of  their  coats  and  sixe,  when  noted; 
namely,  the  yearlings,  the  2,  :>,  I.  and  5  year  old  males. 

(2)  That  the  methods  adopted  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  were  from  the 
first,  according  to  his  observations  of  1872-1874,  admirably  adapted  to 
accomplish  the  gathering;  of  the  annual  increase  (pp.  71,  74). 

(Bee  also  description  of  drive  in  the  parts  quoted  from  his  report  of 
1874,  pp.  122-128.) 

(3)  That  the  methods  pursued  in  1800  (with  the  single  exception  of 
alleged  redriving  and  overdriving,  already  noticed)  were  in  all  respects 
as  good  as,  and  in  some  better  than,  those  pursued  in  1872  to  1874. 

I 'age  261):  I  should  remark  that  the  driving  of  the  seals  has  been  very  carefully 
done;  no  extra  rushing  and  smothering  of  the  herd,  as  it  was  frequently  done  in  1872. 
Mr.  Goft'  began  with  a  sharp  admonition,  and  it  has  been  scrupulously  observed  thus 
far  by  the  natives. 

Page  283:  Yesterday  afternoon  I  went  back  to  Tolstoi  over  the  seal  road  on  which 
the  drive  above  tallied  was  made  in  the  night  and  morning  of  the  7th  instant;  the 
number  of  road  "faints"  or  road  skins  was  not  large,  which  shows  that  the  natives 
had  taken  great  care  in  driving  these  seals.  This  they  have  uniformly  done  thus  far 
(see  also  p.  129). 

Mr.  Elliott  draws  a  bill  (p.  217)  for  the  restoration  of  the  herd,  but  it 
contains  no  designed  improvement  in  the  methods. 

Elsewhere,  however,  he  suggests  the  following:  That  no  culling  of 
the  herds  be  allowed,  i.  e.,  that  every  seal  driven  up  be  killed  (p.  73), 
and  that  no  driving  be  allowed  after  July  20  (p.  179). 

These  are  the  sole  improvements  which  even  he  has  to  suggest. 

(4)  That  according  to  his  observations  of  1872-1874  and  1876  the 
herd  could  safely  support  a  draft  far  larger  than  100,000,  probably  as 
large  as  180,000  annually  (p.  69). 

(He  was  first  on  the  islands  during  the  three  years  1872  to  1874. 
This  report,  written  in  1890,  represents  the  herd  in  1874  as  being  in  a 
nourishing  condition.  He  was  again  on  the  islands  in  1876.  .He  does 
not  intimate  anywhere  in  this  report  of  1890  that  the  condition  of  1876 
was  not  in  all  respects  as  good  as  that  of  1872,  1873,  and  1874.) 

(5)  That  female  seals  should  never  be  killed. 

Page  74:  We  do  not  touch  or  disturb  these  females  as  they  grow  up  and  live,  and 
we  never  will  if  the  law  and  present  management  is  continued. 

Page  213 :  In  1835,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  this  industry  on  these  islands, 
was  the  vital  principal  of  not  killing  female  seals  recognized. 

(6)  That  pelagic  sealing  is  essentially  destructive  in  its  nature,  and 
that  at  least  85  per  cent  of  the  pelagic  catch  is  composed  of  females. 

Page  IX :  I  could  figure  out  from  the  known  number  of  skins  which  these  hunters 
had  placed  on  the  market  a  statement  of  the  loss  and  damage  to  the  rookeries,  to 
the  females  and  young  born  and  unborn,  for  that  is  the  class  from  which  the  poacher 
secures  at  least  85  of  the  100  of  his  catch. 

Page  13 :  The  young  male  seals  have  been  directly  between  the  drive,  clnb,  and 
poacher  since  1882,  while  the  females  have  had  but  one  direct  attack  outside  of  the 
natural  causes.  They  have  been,  however,  the  chief  quarry  of  the  pelagic  sealer 
during  the  last  five  years. 

(7)  That  the  loss  through  the  wounding  and  sinking  of  seals  is 
enormous. 

Page  214:  Five  thousand  female  seals,  heavy  with  their  young,  are  killed  in  order 
to  secure  every  1,000  skins  taken.  (See  also  p.  85,  footnote.) 

(8)  That  it  is  an  absolute  necessity  that  pelagic  sealing  should  be 
suppressed  on  the  ground  that  it  is  an  immoral  pursuit,  and  one  which 


352  SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

is  "repugnant  to  the  sense  of  decency  and  simplest  instincts  of  true 
manhood."    He  makes  the  following-  recommendation  (see  p.  214) : 

That  pelagic  sealing  in  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea  be  prohibited  and  suppressed 
throughout  the  breeding  season,  no  matter  how,  so  that  it  is  done,  and  done  quickly. 

This  step  is  equ  «lly  imperative.  The  immorality  of  that  demand  made  by  the 
open-water  sealer  to  ruin  within  a  few  short  years  and  destroy  forever  these  fur- 
bearing  interests  on  the  Pribilof  Islands— the  immorality  of  this  demand  can  not  be 
glossed  over  by  any  sophistry.  The  idea  of  permitting  such  a  chase  to  continue 
where  5,000  females,  heavy  with  their  unborn  young,  are  killed  in  order  to  secure 
every  1,000  skins  taken/ is  repugnant  to  the 'sense  of  decency  and  the  simplest 
instincts  of  true  manhood. 

I  can  not  refrain  from  expressing  my  tirm  belief  that  if  the  truth  is  known — made 
plain  to  responsible  heads  of  the  civilized  powers  of  the  world — that  not  one  of  these 
Governments  will  hesitate  to  unite  with  ours  in  closing  Bering  Sea  and  its  passes  of 
the  Aleutian  chain  to  any  and  all  pelagic  fur  sealing  during  the  breeding  season  of 
that  animal. 

(9)  That  cows  suckle  no  pups  other  than  their  own. 
Referring  to  the  driving  of  nursing  cows,  he  says: 

Page2:*7:     *     *  That  means  death  or  permanent  disability,  even  if  the  cows 

are  driven  but  once — death  to  both  cow  and  her  pup  left  behind,  since  that  pup  will 
not  be  permitted  to  suckle  any  other. 

(10)  That  pups  learn  to  swim;  that  in  the  beginning  of  August  a 
large  majority  of  them  are  wholly  unused  to  water  (p.  255),  and  that  a 
number  of  them  do  not  "  get  into  the  water"  before  September  1  (p.  260). 

(11)  That  the  seals  are  of  a  gentle  disposition,  are  not  frightened  by 
the  presence  of  man,  and  should  not  be  regarded  as  wild  animals. 

Page  123:  Docility  of  fur  seals  when  driven. — I  was  also  impressed  by  the  singular 
•docility  and  amiability  of  these  animals  when  driven  along  the  road;  they  never 
show  tight  any  more  than  a  flock  of  sheep  would  do. 

Page  98 :  Gentleness  of  the  seals. — Descend  with  me  from  this  sand-dune  elevation  of 
Tolstoi  and  walk  into  the  drove  of  holluschickie  below  us;  we  can  do  it;  you  do  not 
notice  much  confusion  or  dismay  as  we  go  in  among  them;  they  simply  open  out 
before  us  and  close  in  behind  our  tracks,  stirring,  crowding  to  the  right  and  left  as 
we  go,  12  to  20  feet  away  from  us  on  each  side.  Look  at  this  small  lioek  of  year- 
lings—some 1,  others  2,  and  even  3  years  old,  which  are  coughing  and  spitting 
around  us  now,  staring  up  at  our  faces  in  amazement  as  we  walk  ahead;  they  strug- 
gle a  few  rods  out  of  our  reach  and  then  come  together  again  behind  us,  showing 
no  further  notice  of  ourselves.  You  could  not  walk  into  a  drove  of  hogs  at  Chicago 
without  exciting  as  much  confusion  and  arousing  an  infinitely  more  disagreeable 
tumult ;  and  as  for  sheep  on  the  plains  they  would  stampede  far  quicker.  Wild 
indeed !  you  can  now  readily  understand  how  easy  it  is  for  two  or  three  men,  early 
in  the  morning,  to  come  where  we  are,  turn  aside  from  this  vast  herd  in  front  of  us 
und  around  us  2,000  or  3,000  of  the  best  examples,  and  drive  them  back,  up  and  over 
to  the  village. 

(12)  That  virgin  females  go  to  the  islands  when  2  years  old  and  are 
there  impregnated. 

Page  18:  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  perhaps  10  or  12  per  cent  of  the  entire 
number  were  yearlings  last  season  and  came  up  onto  these  breeding  grounds  as  vir- 
gins for  the  first  time  during  this  season;  as  2-year-old  cows  they  of  course  bear 
no  young.  (Ibid.)  This  surplus  area  of  the  males  is  also  more  than  balanced  and 
equalized  by  the  15,000  to  20,000  virgin  females  which  come  onto  the  rookery  for  the 
first  time  to  meet  the  males.  They  come,  rest  a  few  days  or  a  week,  and  retire,  leav- 
ing no  young  to  show  their  presence  on  the  ground. 

Page  139:  Next  year  these  yearlings  which  are  now  trooping  out  with  the  youthful 
males  on  the  hauling  grounds  will  repair  to  the  rookeries,  while  their  male  com- 
panions will  be  obliged  to  come  again  to  this  same  spot. 

V. 

Again  this  report  not  only  supports  all  positions  taken  by  the  United 
States  on  the  main  points,  but  as  clearly  condemns  all  of  the  special 
assertions  made  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  for  the  purpose  of  weak- 
ening those  positions : 

(1)  Mr.  Elliott  holds  that  coition  is  never  effected  in  the  sea  (p.  83). 


SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PK1P.ILOF    ISLANDS.  353 

(2)  lie  repudiates  the  notion   that  the  seals  have  in   any  respect 
chunked  their  habits,  either  in  dates  of  arrival  at  the  islands  or  other- 
wise '(pp.  SO.  104,  lOfi,  10S,  240.  242,  2!>1). 

(3)  His  observations  are  to  the  effect  that  in  the  years  1872  to  1876 
the  herd    was  in   a   condition  of  abounding  prosperity.     The  British 
(iovci  nineiit   cites  Bryant  to  prove  that  during  this  period  a  decrease 
in  certain  classes  of  the  seals  had  been  observed  (pp.  69,  77,  78,  79,  124, 
151). 

(4)  The  British  assertion  that  the  effect  of  raids  upon  the  island  has 
been  considerable  is  contradicted  by  him  (pp.  57,  58). 

(5)  He  states,  contrary  to  the  contention  of  Great  Britain,  that  there 
has  been  a  gradual  improvement  in  the  methods  of  driving  and  that 
the  actual  driving-  to  day  is  carried  on  with  the  greatest  of  care  (pp. 
269,  283). 

(6)  He  states  that  the  condition  of  the  natives  has  improved  since 
the  Americans  took  possession  of  the  islands,  and  that  they  are  to-day 
in  every  respect  well  off  (pp.  163,  185). 

(7)  lie  states  that  no  reduction  took  place  in  the  standard  weight  of 
skins  until  18S7  (p.  143). 

(8)  He  states  that  the  seals  have  great  powers  of  locomotion  on  land 
(pp.  5:;,  244,  258). 

Elsewhere  .Mr.  Elliott  says  (Fur-seal  Fisheries  of  Alaska,  p.  136): 

Its  forefeet  or  flippers  are  exceedingly  bro;ul  and  powerful,  and  when  it  comes  out 
of  the  water  it  moves  forward,  stepping  with  considerable  rapidity  and  much  grace. 

(9)  That  the  latest  date  for  properly  observing  the  rookeries  is  July 
20  or  thereabouts,  for  after  that  date  disintegration  sets  in  (pp.  iii,  16, 
21,  83,  236,  249). 

It  follows  that  the  rookery  observations  of  the  British  commissioners, 
who  did  not  reach  the  islands  in  1891  until  July  27,  are  worthless.  It 
follows,  also,  that  Mr.  Macoiin  (whose  observations  in  1891  were  even 
less  extensive  than  those  of  the  British  commissioners)  is  not  in  a  posi- 
tion to  institute  any  comparison  between  the  appearance  of  the  rookeries 
in  1891  and  1892,  respectively. 

(10)  Mr.  Elliott  gives  no  countenance  to  the  idea  that  there  exist 
independent  pelagic  schools  of  young  seals  which  do  not  visit  the 
islands.     His  report  is  replete  with  instances  where  he  has  observed 
large  numbers  of  yearlings  and  2-year  olds  of  both  sexes  on  the  islands. 


Page  105  :  By  the  14th  to  the  20th  of  June,  they 
in  their  finest  form  and  number  for  the  season,  being  joined  now  by  the  great  bu 
of  the  2-yeav  olds,  and  quite  a  number  of  yearlings.  By  the  10th  of  July  their-iium- 
bers  are  beginning  to  largely  increase,  owing  to  the  influx  at  this  time  of  that  great 
body  of  the  lust  year's  pups  or  yearlings.  By  the  20th  of  July  the  yearlings  have  put 
in  their  appearance  !'<>r  the  season  in  full  force.  Very  few  yearlings  make  their 
appearance  until  the  15th  of  July,  but  by  the  20th  they  literally  swarmed  out,  in 
1872-1*7  1,  and  mixed  up  completely  with  the  young  and  older  males  and  females  a<s 
the  rookeries  relax  their  diseipline  and  "  pod  "  or  scatter  out. 

Page  lM:>:  I  took  notice  of  a  large  proportion  of  small  or  2-year-old  females,  and 
the  unusual  slowness  of  hauling,  compared  with  1872,  which  was  now  at  its  greatest 
activity  July  7.  (Tolstoi.  July  1.  IS}»0.) 

Page  _'.">:;:  The  holluschickie  are  chiefly  1-year  olds;  nine-tenths  of  the  several 
pods  hauled  out  here  today  are  yearlings.  A  great  many  yearling  females  are 
hauling  down  at  landings  in  and  among  the  scattered  harems,  aimlessly  paddling 
about;  their  slight  forms  and  bright  backs,  white  throats  and  abdomens,  are  shining 
out  very  brightly.  (North  Rookery,  July  30,  1870.)" 

Page  298:  I  observed  a  very  large  proportion  of  yearling  cows  scattered  all  over 
the  breeding  ground  from  end  to  end  near  the  sea  margin,  whil<j  the  yearlings  of 
both  sexes  are  completely  mixed  upon  the  outskirts  of  the  rookery,  here  and  every- 
where else  commingled  with  the  adult  cows  and  their  young  pups.  (St.  George, 
July  30,  1890.) 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1  -  23 


354  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

References  to  the  report  showing  that  yearlings  and  2-year  olds  come 
to  the  islands  might  be  multiplied  almost  indefinitely.  (See  pp.  98, 
139,  140,  143,  147,  253,  255,  256,  277,  28!),  291.) 

(11)  Mr.  Elliott  scorns  the  notion  upon  which  the  trainers  of  the 
British  case  have  sought  to  base  the  moral  title  of  Canada  to  a  special 
benefit  from  the  herd,  namely,  that  the  seals  consume  food  which  would 
otherwise  support  fisheries  valuable  to  Canada,  for  he  shows  that  the 
true  enemy  of  these  fisheries  is  the  dogfish,  of  which  the  seal  is,  in  its 
turn,  the  greatest  destroyer. 

Page  307:  Suppose,  for  argument,  that  we  could  and  did  kill  all  the  seals,  we 
would  at  once  give  the  deadly  dogfish  (Squaino  ancarthias),  which  fairly  swarms  in 
these  waters,  an  immense  impetus  to  its  present  extensive  work  of  destruction  of 
untold  millions  of  young  food  fishes,  such  as  herring,  cod,  and  salmon. 

A  dogfish  can  and  does  destroy  every  day  of  its  existence  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  young  cod,  salmon,  and  other  food  fishes — destroys  at  least  double  and  quadru- 
ple as  much  as  a  seal.  What  is  the  most  potent  factor  to  the  destruction  of  the  dog- 
fish f  Why  the  seal  himself,  and  unless  man  can  and  will  destroy  the  dogfish  first, 
he  will  be  doing  positive  injury  to  the  very  cause  he  pretends  to  champion  if  he  is- 
permitted  to  disturb  this  equilibrium  of  nature  and  destroy  the  seal. 

VI. 

If  Mr.  Elliott's  views,  as  an  observer  of  facts,  as  a  discoverer  of  causesr 
as  a  reason er,  or  as  an  authority  in  any  particular  upon  seal  life  upon 
the  Pribilof  Islands,  are  of  any  value  whatever,  it  should  be  to  show 
that  in  the  years  from  1884  to  1890  the  male  seals  had,  in  consequence 
of  overdriving,  become  so  few  in  number  and  so  destitute  of  virile  power 
that  they  were  not  competent  to  the  task  of  impregnating  even  the 
diminished  number  of  female  seals  which  the  herd  then  contained. 

Do  those  who  represent  the  Government  of  Great  Britain  really  wish 
to  persuade  the  Tribunal  that  this  is  true?  Such  would  seem  to  be  the 
only  conceivable  purpose  for  which  such  a  struggle  was  made  to  intro- 
duce this  report  into  the  evidence.  Unless  it  tends  to  prove  this,  it  has 
no  tendency  except  to  overthrow  every  position  taken  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain. 

But  yet  the  same  learned  counsel  have  produced  more  than  one 
hundred  witnesses  who  swear  that  in  the  years  1891  and  1892  the  seal& 
were  found  upon  the  seas  in  unprecedented  numbers,  and  some  twenty- 
five  of  them  note  specifically  having  taken  young,  small,  or  2  year-old 
seals,  some  of  the  catches  consisting  exclusively  of  this  class,  which 
must  have  owed  their  existence  to  the  impotent  bull  observed  by  Mr. 
Elliott. 

What  are  we  to  believe — that  Elliott's  statements  are  worthless,  or 
that  these  witnesses  are  testifying  to  what  is  false,  or  that  these  few 
supposed  impotent  bulls  were  endowed  with  procreative  powers  wholly 
unprecedented  even  in  the  case  of  the  Alaskan  bull  seal?  Let  these 
contradictious  be  reconciled  as  best  they  may.  In  the  view  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  both  these  conflicting  statements  are  alike 
untrustworthy  and  should  be  disregarded. 

(1)  The  names  of  the  one  hundred  witnesses  and  upward  are  given 
in  the  British  counter  case  (Appendix,  Vol.  II,  pp.  29-33). 

(2)  The  names  of  the  twenty-five  witnesses  above  mentioned,  who 
caught  young,  small,  or  2-year  olds  in  1892,  are  as  follows  (see  British 
counter  case,  Appendix,  Vol.  II,  pp.  14-22) : 

Capt.  Abel  Douglas,  George  Eoberts,  William  G.  Goudie,  James 
Shields,  George  F.  French,  Andrew  Mathison,  Capt.  Ernest  Lorenz, 
Capt.  Charles  Campbell,  Capt.  James  W.  Todd,  Henry  Paxton,  George 


SEAL    LIFE    ON   THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  355 

Heater,  Capt.  James  D.  Warren,  Capt.  Micajah  Pickney,  Capt.  Michael 
Keefe,  William  F.  Koland,  P.  Garlson.  Kasado,  Schoultwick,  Clahapi- 
sum,  Hanaisum,  Clahouto,  W.  Watt,  Clat-ka-koi,  Kickiana,  and  Ehen- 
chesut. 

And  Mr.  Elliott  himself  seems  to  have  observed  the  usual  number  of 
yearlings  in  1890  (ante,  p.  17).  And  yet  the  impotenoy  which  he  imagines 
to  have  been  brought  about  as  the  result  of  redriving  through  a  series  of 
years  must,  if  it  existed  at  all,  have  been  nearly  as  marked  in  1889, 
when  these  yearlings  were  begotten. 


REPORT  OF  JOSEPH  MURRAY,  SPECIAL  TREASURY  AGENT,  FOR 

THE  YEAR  1S<>:>. 


DIVISION  OF  SPECIAL  AGENTS, 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 
Washington,  D.  <7.,  December  20,  1895. 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  pursuant  to  Department  instruc- 
tions dated  April  4,  1895,  I  proceeded  to  the  Pacific  Coast  and  sailed 
from  Seattle  April  23,  on  board  the  regular  mail  steamer  for  Sitka, 
where  I  arrived  May  1  and  learned  that  court  was  about  to  be  held  at 
Juneau,  to  which  city  I  immediately  returned  for  the  purpose  of  looking 
after  the  interest  of  the  Government,  as  it  might  appear  in  the  ex- Mar- 
shal Porter  case,  one  of  whose  deputies,  Mr.  Adolph  Myer,  was  about 
to  be  tried  on  charges  of  forgery,  embezzlement,  stealing  public  records, 
and  several  others  of  like  nature. 

My  written  instructions  are  as  follows : 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  April  4,  1895. 

SIR  :  You  are  directed  to  perfect  your  arraugeiueuts  with  a  view  to  your  departure  for 
Sitka,  Alaska,  with  as  little  delay  as  practicable.  It  will  be  your  duty  to  ascertain 
and  report  the  location  of  every  salmon  cannery  or  saltery  in  Alaska;  the  capacity 
of  the  same  in  cases,  barrels,  half-barrels,  and  kits;  the  pack  m  full  for  each  season; 
the  number  of  boxes  of  tin  consumed  and  the  cost  of  the  same  per  box  at  place  of 
purchase;  the  approximate  or  actual  selling  price  of  the  product  of  each  fishery  in 
the  market  to  which  the  same  may  be  consigned;  the  number  of  employees  in  each 
cannery  and  the  totals  thereof,  segregating  whites,  natives,  Chinese,  etc.,  male  and 
female,  adults  and  minors,  and  whether  citizens  or  aliens.  You  should  include,  also, 
in  said  reports  the  codfish,  herring,  herring-oil,  guano,  and  other  such  industries. 
It  is  desired  that  you  investigate  the  alleged  taking  and  destruction  of  the  eggs  of 
game  wild  fowl  in  Alaska,  as  well,  also,  as  to  the  alleged  wanton  destruction  of  game 
birds,  deer,  fox,  and  other  animals,  and  also  the  advisability  of  adopting  suitable 
regulations  as  to  close  seasons,  in  ordar  to  prevent  such  destruction  in  future. 

You  should  visit,  if  possible,  every  cannery  in  Alaska,  and,  when  practicable,  the 
necessary  journeys  should  be  made  on  vessels  of  the  United  States.  This  instruction  is 
not  to  be  construed,  however,  as  forbidding  the  use  of  other  means  of  conveyance 
when  necessary.  You  are  expected  to  report  to  the  nearest  collector  of  customs  any 
infraction  of  the  revenue  laws  which  may  come  to  your  notice.  You  should  report, 
also,  to  the  Department  any  violation  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  introduction  of 
firearms  or  cf  liquors  into  the  Territory  of  Alaska. 

For  your  information  I  inclose  herewith  copy  of  the  circular  dated  August  10,  1892, 
pertaining  to  the  erection  of  dams,  barricades,  or  other  obstructions  in  the  rivers  of 
Alaska  for  the  purpose  or  result  of  preventing  or  impeding  the  ascent  of  salmon  or 
other  anadromous  species  to  their  spawning  grounds.  It  will  be  your  duty  to  enforce 
the  provisions  of  said  circular  and  to  warn  all  persons  who  have  erected  dams,  barri- 
cades, or  other  obstructions  to  remove  the  same  forthwith,  and  in  default  thereof 
you  should  report  the  facts,  with  the  proper  proofs,  to  the  United  States  attorney  for 
prosecution.  • 

You  should  submit  reports  to  the  Department  from  time  to, time  showing  the  result 
of  your  work,  and  at  the  close  of  the  tishing  season  you  should  forward  a  full  report, 
covering  said  season  and  stating  the  result  of  your  observations  under  these  instruc- 
tions. Any  recommendations  you  deem  advisable  may  be  embodied  in  your  reports. 
Any  official  communication  which  the  Department  may  tiud  necessary  to  address  to 
you  hereafter  will  be  mailed  to  Sitka,  Alaska.  In  this  connection  you  are  informed 
356 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  357 


tli  at  in  addition  to  your  duties  MS  an  n^ciit  for  the  salmon  fisheries  you  are  to  hold 
yourself  in  readiness  to  make  such  other  investigations  or  render  any  service  which 
the  Department  may  require  of  you.  If  practicable,  you  should  at  some  time  dur- 
ing the  ensuing  season  visit  the  seal  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  (Jeorjie  for  the  pur- 
"f  inspecting  the  rookeries  thereon  and  of  comparing  their  condition  with  that 
of  the  season  of  isj»l,  with  which  you  are.  familiar. 

Respectfully,  yours,  J.  G.  CARLISLE, 

Secretary. 

Mr.  JosKi'ii  Mri:i:AY, 

Special?  Agent  for  Hie  I'rotection  of  the  Salmon  Fisheries, 

Fort  Collins,  Colo. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  I  was  verbally  instructed  (time  permit- 
ting) to  attend  court  during  the  trial  of  the  ex  Marshal  Porter  case  and 
to  take  particular  notice  of  how  jury  trial  was  conducted  in  Alaska, 
and  to  learn  what  I  could  from  reliable  sources  about  the  manufacture 
and  importation  of  spirituous  liquors. 

Finding  it  was  as  yet  too  early  for  salmon  fishing  and  that  I  could 
not  find  transportation  to  the  nearest  cannery  for  several  weeks,  and 
as  I  was  in  the  midst  of  the  best  part  of  Alaska  and  of  its  best  and 
most  energetic  citizens,  where  I  could  procure  most  of  the  information 
asked  for  in  my  instructions,  I  resolved  to  attend  court  until  the  arrival 
of  the  Bering  Sea  patrol  fleet  off  Sitka,  and  then  continue  my  journey 
to  the  westward. 

During  our  travels  through  Alaska  in  1894,  Hon.  C.  S.  FTamlin, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  I  were  informed  at  every 
important  point  we  touched  and  found  white  men  that,  "  because  of  its 
nonenforcement,  the  law  is  looked  upon  as  a  farce,"  and  that  "it  is 
impossible  to  find  a  jury  to  convict  for  smuggling  or  violating  the 
revenue  law,"  and  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  report  that  it  is  only  too  true. 

For  three  weeks  I  was  present  at  every  session  of  the  court,  and  in 
that  time  I  learned  beyond  a  doubt  that  not  only  were  juries  to  be  had 
to  return  verdicts  of  "not  guilty"  in  behalf  of  every  violator  of  the 
revenue  law,  but  also  for  any  crime,  if  one  only  knew  the  particular 
attorney  to  employ. 

Mr.  Adolph  Myer  had  been  a  deputy  for  Marshal  Porter;  had  abso- 
lute control  and  personal  charge  of  the  marshal's  office,  books,  and 
money,  and  for  years  served  his  superior  faithfully  and  well.  But 
under  the  evil  influence  of  bad  and  wicked  men  he  was  led  step  by 
step  from  one  crime  to  another  until  forgery  and  embezzlement  were 
reached,  and  then  the  end. 

When  the  case  was  about  to  come  to  trial,  I  was  in  daily,  hourly 
communication  with  the  district  attorney,  whom  I  advised  to  stand  up 
for  the  right  against  all  of  the  vile  methods  that  might  be  used  against 
him,  and  that  in  doing  so  he  would  be  supported  by  the  Government. 
He  said  he  was  afraid  of  bodily  injury,  of  his  personal  safety;  that 
unless  he  could  secure  the  joint  services  of  a  certain  attorney  whom  he 
named  and  whose  strength  and  worth  lay  in  his  power  to  influence 
juries,  it  would  be  useless  to  try  the  case  before  a  jury,  for  most  of  the 
jurymen  would  be  personal  friends  of  the  prisoner  and  many  of  them 
participators  in  his  crime;  that  although  the  prisoner  was  guilty  of 
enough  crime  to  keep  him  imprisoned  twenty  years,  if  he  could  not 
influence  the  jury  he  would  be  turned  loose  on  a  verdict  of  "not  guilty." 

Not  knowing  how  to  influence  the  jury  for  the  purposes  indicated, 
and  being  unable  to  control  the  district  attorney,  I  was  necessarily 
obliged  to  remain  a  silent  spectator  of  a  compromise  between  the  parties 
interested,  the  terms  of  which  were  that  on  condition  of  the  withdrawal 
of  the  plea  ef  "not  guilty"  and  the  substitution  of  the  plea  of  "guilty" 


358  SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

the  prisoner  would  be  let  off  with  a  small  tine  and  light  sentence,  which 
was  done  by  the  district  attorney  stating  that  a  tine  of  $,">0  and  twenty- 
eight  months'  imprisonment  would  be  satisfactory. 

As  soon  as  he  was  sentenced  lie  was  taken  from  his  cell  to  the  grand 
jury  room  to  testify  against  his  former  employer  and  superior  officer, 
ex  Marshal  Porter,  and  he  actually  did  testily  to  Porter's  having  em- 
bezzled or  stolen  a  sum  of  money  from  the  Government,  sent  from  the 
Department  of  .Justice  by  check,  amounting  to  some  8 1,1  L'l )..'>-,  which 
amount  was  part  of  the  money  drawn  by  Deputy  .Myers  from  the 
Department  during  t  lie  temporary  absence  of  the  marshal,  and  for  which 
lie  had  just  been  convicted. 

And  yet.  on  testimony  of  that  sort  and  from  such  a  source,  ex-Marshal 
Porter  was  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  of  Alaska  for  embezzlement.  He 
was  approached  in  my  presence  by  the  district  attorney  as  a  friend, 
and  asked  to  acknowledge  that  the  Government  owed  the  money  to  the 
marshal's  office,  or  to  be  disgraced  in  his  old  age  by  an  indictment  by 
the  grand  jury. 

Porter  answered  that  he  would  die  before  he  would  consent  to  rob 
the  Government,  and  the  next  day  he  was  indicted. 

LIoTOK    AND    SMr<;<;LIN(i. 

Liquor  cases  were  called  and  disposed  of  with  the  regularity  of  clock- 
work, and  always  with  the  same  result:  the  witnesses  were  Indians  and 
half-breeds,  the  prisoner  was  a  white  man.  and  his  friends  and  chums 
were  in  the  jury  box  to  acquit  him. 

'•Can  you  render  a  verdict  according  to  the  law  and  testimony,"  said 
the  judge  to  a  man  who  was  being  sworn  as  a  juror.  'k  I  can,"  said  the 
fellow,  '-unless  the  testimony  is  that  of  an  Indian." 

The  testimony  of  Indians  is  not  valued  in  .luncan.  although  many  of 
them  are  brought  in  here  as  witnesses,  and  supported  at  the  expense  of 
the  Government. 

Within  sight  of  the  court-house  were  •><>  public,  saloons  open  and 
doing  a  public  business,  some  of  the  more  pretentious  ones  keeping 
open  house  all  night,  and  there  was  not  a  Government  oflicer  in  Juneaii 
who  could  be  found  to  interfere  with  them. 

On  one  technicality  or  another  it  seems  the  laws  are  not  sufficiently 
explicit  to  make  it  the  plain  duty  of  any  particular  oflicer  to  raid  a 
saloon  without  the  cooperation  of  other  officers,  who  arc.  as  a  rule,  not 
on  hand  when  wanted. 

Speaking  to  a  customs  oflicer  at  Juneau,  1  said,  "How  on  earth  do 
you  account  for  the  existence  of  so  many  saloons  in  .luneau,  and  many 
larger  ones  in  course  of  erection,  if  you  men  do  your  duty  .' v  To  which 
he  replied.  "Mr.  Murray,  I  know  yon  are  justified  in  asking  such  a 
question,  but  you  do  not  know  anything  about  the  real  situation  here 
or  you  would  not  blame  me  personally.  When  I  first  came  here  1  was 
zealous  and  watchful,  and  I  raided  a  smuggler's  den  and  captured 
some  1O  barrels  of  liquor,  but  what  was  the  result  '.'  The  district  attor- 
ney came  into  court  and  moved  to  have  that  smuggler  discharged  on 
payi ng  a  line  of  s.~j()/' 

Meeting  the  district  attorney,  I  asked  him  for  his  side  of  the  story, 
and  he  said.  -;  Yes,  I  did  let  the  fellow  go  on  a  small  line,  for  I  found 
that  because  he  was  not  in  the  inner  circle  of  smugglers  and  vendors 
he  had  been  selected  as  a  victim  and  his  whisky  seized,  taken  to  the 
custom-house,  and  sold  at  private  sale  to  one  of  the  inner  ring  for  less 
than  one  third  its  real  value/' 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  359 

And  so  the  story  continued  to  the  end  of  the  chapter;  one  officer 
willing1  to  lay  all  the  blame  on  the  other,  while  between  them  the  inter- 
ests oi  the  Government  are  left  to  suiter,  and  the  law,  that  was  intended 
to  do  good,  become  a  subject  of  derision  and  contempt. 

Atrhineau  many  influential  professional  and  businessmen — whose 
names  can  be  given  if  necessary — expressed  themselves  to  me  in  sub- 
stance as  follows:  "There  are  30  saloons  here  doing  an  open,  public 
business,  and  the  governor  is  being  very  badly  deceived  by  men  high 
in  public  a  Hairs  who  are  all  more  or  less  financially  interested  in  the 
liquor  business.  We  favor  the  fearless  enforcement  of  the  law  or  its 
unconditional  repeal.  We  think  that  the  true  solution  of  the  liquor 
question  in  Alaska  is  high  license — say  $1,000  in  Sitka  and  Juneau  and 
in  proportion  in  smaller  places.'" 

One  of  the  most  prominent  attorneys  at  the  Juneau  bar  said:  "I 
have  faith  in  the  future  of  Alaska,  and  I  think  I  can  give  some  reliable 
information  about  the  country  and  its  needs.  1  believe  the  Govern- 
ment is  to  blame  because,  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  no  effort  has  been 
made  to  enforce  the  law,  until  now  the  average  man  has  no  idea  of 
having  any  law  enforced.  Courts,  juries,  and  lawyers  are  looked  upon 
with  contempt.  Juries  can  not  be  found  here,  even  among  our  best  peo- 
ple, to  convict  for  smuggling  or  violating  the  revenue  laws.  Perjury 
is  common;  and  I  should  advise  the  taking  away  the  jury  system  of 
trial  in  cases  where  the  excise  laws  are  in  question.  I  would  say  that 
all  petty  cases  should  be  tried  without  a  jury.  Everything  here — cost, 
distance,  and  sparse  settlement — isagainstit.  The  whole  system  needs 
an  overhauling.  Tilings  are  done  in  such  a  slipshod  manner  that  Gov- 
ernment interests  are  neglected  and  the  weak  attempts  made  to  uphold 
the  law  are  a  complete  farce.  No  serious  attempt  has  been  made  to 
enforce  the  liquor  law,  and  liquor  is  sold  here  publicly.  Charge  $1,000 
for  license  and  then  enforce  the  law.  Had  I  the  power  to  do  it,  I  would 
enforce  the  law  at  any  cost;  for,  as  now  carried  on,  we  are  teaching  the 
rising  generation  to  utterly  disregard  all  law,  and  they  are  growing  up 
to  be  our  dangerous  classes." 

The  foregoing  are  sample  conversations  with  the  best  people  in 
Alaska,  and  I  could  quote  scores  of  them  were  it  necessary. 

Complaint  was  made  on  all  sides  by  men  of  that  large  class  who  are 
too  poor  to  purchase  liquor  in  large  quantities  and  are  not  influential 
enough  to  get  permits  from  the  customs  authorities  to  bring  it  in  on  the 
mail  steamer.  That  only  a  few  favored  ones — mostly  liquor  dealers — 
were  allowed  this  privilege  seemed  to  be  a  source  of  much  indignation. 

Exhibit  marked  B.  handed  me  by  the  district  attorney,  shows  the 
quantity  of  liquor  that  entered  by  permit  from  January  1,  1894,  to 
March  10,  1.S95 — fourteen  months;  during  which  time  permits  were 
issued  to  34  persons  to  bring  in  several  hundred  barrels  of  distilled  and 
malt  liquors. 

It  seemed  that  the  necessity  to  obtain  a  permit  had  ceased  to  exist 
when  I  was  in  Juneau  in  May.  for  representative  salesmen  for  whole- 
sale liquor  houses  at  San  Francisco,  Seattle,  and  Portland  were  otler- 
ing  to  deliver  the  liquor  into  the  saloons  at  Juneau  before  they  would 
ask  pay. 

This,  in  brief,  is  a  true  outline  of  the  liquor  question  in  Alaska,  nor 
can  it  be  remedied  unless  the  Government  goes  to  work  to  enforce  or 
repeal  the  present  prohibitory  law  relating  to  the  liquor  traffic  in  the 
Territory. 

So  long  as  the  Government  does  not  own  or  control  a  boat  of  any  sort 
in  a  stretch  of  country  1,500  miles  long,  where  the  only  road  is  a  water- 


360  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

way — so  long  as  Government  officers  are  compelled,  because  of  lack  of 
boat  service,  to  stand  helpless  on  shore  while  the  smuggler  plies  his 
illegitimate  trade  beneath  their  very  eyes,  so  long-  will  the  present  state 
of  affairs  continue  to  curse  Alaska  and  to  be  a  disgrace  to  our  whole 
country. 

While  at  Juneau  in  May  1  wa^  informed  of  an  attempt  that  was  about 
to  be  made  to  laud  a  cargo  of  liquor  destined  for  the  Yukon  Valley 
trade,  and  one  of  the  most  energetic  inspectors  in  Alaska  was  on  the 
watch  to  capture  it  if  possible.  He  did  not  succeed,  however,  for  by 
the  time  he  secured  a  boat  to  transport  him  to  the  rendezvous  of  the 
smugglers  he  found  he  was  twenty-four  hours  late.  Speaking  of  the  affair 
afterwards  he  said  to  me:  "If  I  only  had  a  boat  that  was  always  at 
my  disposal  I  think  I  could  break  up  a  great  deal  of  this  smuggling; 
but,  hampered  as  I  am  now,  I  am  powerless,  for  no  sooner  do  1  hire  a 
boat  to  go  anywhere  than  the  signal  ilies  over  the  district.  It  will 
require  the  presence  of  a  revenue  cutter  and  half  a  dozen  steam  launches 
to  kill  oft*  smuggling  in  Alaska."  Every  word  of  which  I  indorse1. 

The  peculiar  conditions  surrounding  the  Alaskan  liquor  question 
have  not  been  taken  into  account  by  many  men  of  extreme  views  who 
have  written  or  spoken  on  the  subject;  indeed,  I  question  if  they  ever 
understood  it.  The  truth  is  that  if  there  is  a  climate  under  the  sun 
where  liquor  is  a  necessity  to  man  that  climate  is  in  Alaska,  and  con- 
sequently white  men  demand  and  must  have  it  at  any  cost  and  in  spite 
of  all  obstacles. 

This  is  the  reason  we  find  99  per  cent,  of  the  white  population  bitterly 
opposed  to  the  present  prohibitory  law.  This  is  why  no  officer  can  be 
found  to  attempt  to  enforce  the  law  or  a  jury  to  uphold  it.  And  where 
public  sentiment  and  public  opinion  are  so  plainly  against  a  law,  no 
matter  how  well  intentioned  or  good  in  itself,  it  is  wise  to  heed  the  sign 
and  amend  or  repeal  it.  During  a  conversation  with  the  assistant  dis- 
trict attorney,  Mr.  Hoggert,  on  this  subject  he  said:  u  During  the  past 
four  years  $148,000  were  spent  in  Alaska  on  cases  of  Indians  and  half- 
breeds  who  had  gotten  drunk  or  had  peddled  whisky  without  any  lasting 
or  definite  results.  Had  we  had  a  high  license  during  that  time  we  could 
have  saved  that  expense  to  the  Government  and  collected  revenue 
enough  to  make  the  Territory  self-supporting." 

DESTRUCTION    OF    GAME-FOWL  EGGS. 

The  stories  told  of  the  wanton  destruction  and  the  systematic  steal- 
ing of  wild  game-fowl  eggs  have  no  foundation  in  fact. 

I  have  traveled  over  thousands  of  miles  of  the  coast  line  of  Alaska, 
making  diligent  inquiry  into  this  matter,  without  finding  one  person 
who  knew  anything  about  it.  1  have  conversed  with  men  who  spent 
twenty  to  thirty  years  in  the  interior  of  Alaska,  mining,  hunting,  and 
trading,  men  who  had  gone  over  every  mile  of  habitable  land  in  the 
Territory,  without  ever  hearing  of  such  a  thing  until  I  asked  them.  I 
have  written  to  traders  whose  business  takes  them  to  the  Upper  Yukon 
country,  far  into  the  British  possessions,  men  who  travel  from  the 
source  to  the  mouth  of  the  great  river;  I  have  written  to  missionaries 
whose  labors  call  them  into  all  the  native  settlements  on  the  Yukon, 
Kuskoquim,  and  other  rivers,  and  the  unvarying  reply  is,  u  We  never 
heard  anything  about  such  things." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not  yet  known  for  certain  where  the  wild 
fowl  lay  their  eggs.  They  certainly  find  some  island,  marsh,  morass, 
swamp,  or  tundra  where  man  can  not  penetrate,  or,  at  all  events,  where 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  361 

he  has  not  as  yet  gone  nor  is  likely  to  go  until  the  inducement  is  some- 
thing of  far  more  value  than  wild-fowl  eggs. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  DEER. 

The  destruction  of  deer  in  southeastern  Alaska  and  in  all  the  tim- 
bered portion  of  the  Territory  from  Cape  Fox  to  Port  Moller,  a  distance 
of,  say,  l.LMM)  to  l.">00  miles,  is  carried  to  such  excess  that  it  would 
hardly  be  credited  in  a  civilized  community. 

1  saw  bales  of  the  dried  deerskins  at  many  of  the  trading  posts  await- 
ing shipment,  and  when  1  asked  what  use  had  been  made  of  the  carcasses, 
1  was  told  the  deer  were  shot  for  their  hides  only. 

I  was  informed  by  many  men — officers  and  citizens — that,  as  the 
weather  became  warmer  in  the  early  spring,  the  smell  from  decaying 
deer  carcasses  became  horiibly  offensive  around  the  towns  and  villages* 
White  men  go  out  and  kill  the  animals  for  fun.  just  to  see  who  can 
knock  down  most  in  a  given  time.  The  natives  kill  them,  because  they 
can  get  a  drink  of  whisky,  valued  at  U5  cents,  for  every  skin  secured. 

That  such  things  have  been  allowed  to  continue  at  any  time  is  to  be 
deeply  regretted;  but  that  it  is  still  allowed  to  continue  after  the 
natives  on  the  seal  islands  have  become  a  burden  on  the  Government, 
and  other  tribes  to  the  northward  soon  will  be  because  of  the  wanton 
waste  of  their  natural  food  supply  on  land  and  water,  passes  the  com- 
prehension of  every  sensible  citizen  who  understands  the  present 
situation. 

To  the  northward  we  are  endeavoring  to  procure  and  foster  the  rein- 
deer for  a  future  food  supply  for  the  natives  of  that  barren  region,  and 
it  is  a  very  laudable  enterprise;  but  at  the  same  time  we  allow  the 
continued  wanton  destruction  of  the  deer  that  covers  the  whole  tim- 
bered part  of  Alaska — an  empire  as  large  as  Texas.  In  the  winter, 
when  the  snow  is  deepest  and  the  animals  can  not  make  a  way  through 
the  dense  undergrowth  beneath  the  timber,  the  so-called  sportsmen  as- 
semble, and  with  dogs  drive  them  out  on  the  seashore,  whose  beaches 
are  kept  clean  by  the  tides,  where  riflemen  are  ready,  stationed  in  boats 
offshore,  to  begin  the  manly  sport  of  shooting  down  helpless  creatures, 
who  can  neither  resist  nor  escape. 

The  following  letter  from  an  eyewitness  explains  itself: 

STEAMER  ALBATROSS,  Unalaska,  August  28,  1895. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  have  not  been  able  to  unearth  the  notes  I  had  on  deer  killing  in 
Alaska.  Krieily,  their  slaughter  has  been  very  great.  During  the  winter  of  1894  deer 
were  killed  and  wasted  in  southeastern  Alaska.  Snow  was  unusually  deep  and  the  deer 
were  forced  to  the  beaches,  which  were  left  clear  by  the  tides.  Shooting  was  done 
from  boats  and  canoes  by  both  whites  and  Indians.  I  know  of  three  Indians  killing. 
175  deer  from  canoes  in  two  days.  Many  whites  shot  for  hides  alone,  and  at  many 
places  hides  could  be  bought  for  35  cents  each.  I  do  not  think  that  Indians  should 
be  prevented  from  shooting  all  kinds  of  game  for  their  own  needs,  but  killing  for 
hides  alone  is  certainly  reprehensible,  and  if  the  rate  of  slaughter  that  has  been 
going  on  for  the  past  few  years  is  continued,  there  will  be  very  few  deer  left. 

As  the  hides  are  of  comparatively  little  value,  their  exportation  might  be  stopped 
without  causing  an  v  serious  hardship  to  anyone,  and  of  course  when  the  hides  become 
unsalable,  the  Indians  will  not  kill  many  more  than  they  need. 

I  have  never  heard  of  any  destruction  of  birds  or  birds'  eggs  and  can  not  imagine 
how  there  could  be  any  remarkable  waste  of  that  nature,  although  I  am  familiar 
with  the  natural  history  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Territory. 
Very  truly,  yours, 

C.    H.    TOWNSEND. 

Col.  JOSEPH  MURRAY. 


362  SEAL    JLIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


FOXES. 

After  we  pass  the  timber  belt  to  the  westward  we  find  but  very  little 
game,  the  only  valuable  land  animal  on  the  Aleutian  chain  of  islands 
being  the  fox,  which  until  recently  was  a  source  of  income  to  the  natives, 
who  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  winter  hunting  and  trapping  the 
animal. 

All  that  has  been  said  about  the  wanton  destruction  of  deer  can  be 
said  with  equal  truth  about  the  wholesale  poisoning  by  which  whole 
islands  are  stripped  of  their  foxes  in  one  winter,  and  the  native  hunter 
and  his  children  left  to  starve.  So  systematically  is  the  work  done  and 
so  desperate  are  the  gang  engaged  in  it  that  those  who  know  them  best 
are  very  careful  to  say  least  about  them. 

Members  of  the  gang  are  to  be  found  wherever  there  is  money  to  be 
made  suddenly  by  illegitimate  means.  In  the  fishing  season  they  dam 
the  streams,  capture  the  salmon  by  the  quantity,  and  sell  them  to  the 
nearest  cannery  for  what  they  will  bring.  They  never  take  the  trouble 
to  tear  down  the  dams.  They  are  to  be  found  in  schooners  in  the  early 
spring  hunting  the  sea  otter  in  forbidden  waters.  They  go  to  Bering 
Sea  after  seals,  and  last  season  some  of  them  made  a  successful  raid  on 
a  trading  post  and  robbed  it  of  some  15  or  20  tine  sea-otter  skins,  valued 
at  $7,000  to  $10,000. 

Generally  they  wind  up  the  year's  plunder  by  selecting  a  group  of 
islands,  where  they  spend  the  winter  poisoning  foxes  and  securing  the 
pelts.  These  are  the  men  who  are  armed  to  the  teeth  with  the  best 
modern  breech-loading  arms;  men  who  own  swift-sailing  schooners,  in 
which  they  carry  cargoes  of  whisky  from  British  Columbia,  and,  follow- 
ing the  Alaskan  coast  and  Indian  settlements,  peddle  it  out  to  natives 
for  whatever  skins  and  trinkets  they  may  have  to  spare,  and  having 
made  them  drunk,  they  slip  in  and  rob  them  of  everything. 

No  effort  has  ever  been  made  to  break  up  their  nefarious  business, 
and  now  they  swagger  into  court  as  though  the  Government  were  an 
intruder,  and  listen  awhile  to  the  proceedings;  just  long  enough  to 
assure  themselves  that  their  tools  at  the  bar  and  in  the  jury  box  are 
doing  their  duty — to  the  gang. 

The  perpetual  presence  of  a  revenue  cutter  that  would  patrol  the 
inner  waters  of  Alaska  from  Cape  Fox  to  Chilcat  and  Sitka,  aided  by 
armed  steam  launches  stationed  at  convenient  points  along  the  route, 
is  the  only  practical  method  that  I  know  of  by  which  the  present  dan- 
gerous bands  of  outlaws  can  be  suppressed. 

With  boats  at  his  disposal  whenever  needed,  the  marshal  could 
enforce  the  law,  the  collector  could  follow  the  smugglers  to  their  ren- 
dezvous and  break  up  the  whole  business  at  one  blow.  As  it  is  now, 
all  the  officers  in  Alaska  are  utterly  powerless  to  do  anything,  and  the 
consequence  is  the  laws  are  defied  and  derided  and  spat  upon. 

THE   SEA  OTTER. 

The  most  valuable  of  all  the  fur-bearing  animals  in  Alaskan  waters 
and  the  most  widely  distributed  is  undoubtedly  the  sea  otter,  which,  if 
properly  protected  by  the  Government,  is  capable  of  giving  profitable 
employment  to  the  native  hunters  for  all  time. 

Beginning  at  Sitka  they  were  to  be  found  till  very  recently  all  around 
the  coast  and  Aleutian  Islands  as  far  westward  as  Attou,  a  distance  of 
nearly  5,000  miles;  but  now,  after  a  few  years  of  hunting  by  the  mod- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIB1LOF    ISLANDS.  3fi3 

ern  methods  of  steamers  and  steam  launches,  they  are  seldom  found 
outside  a  few  favorably  secluded  spots.  The  steamer  and  the  steam 
launch  carry  crows  nf  white  hunters  into  every  nook  and  cranny  on  the 
coast  and  otter  hunting  grounds  where  an  animal  is  to  be  found,  and 
every  one  of  them  is  either  killed  or  chased  away  from  home — chased 
out  to  sea  in  many  instances,  where,  if  they  happen  to  elude  the  hunter, 
they  die  of  starvation,  for  they  can  not  go  down  for  food  in  deep  water. 

None  but  native  hunters  should  be  permitted  to  hunt  sea  otter, 
because  it  is  almost  the  only  support  of  all  the  native  people  from 
Cooks  Inlet  to  Attou  Island,  and,  if  left  to  them  exclusively,  their  simple 
methods  of  hunting  on  the  water  in  skin  boats,  in  which  they  dare  not 
venture  far  from  land,  can  not  possibly  drive  the  animal  away  from  its 
customary  haunts  nor  exterminate  it. 

I  include  in  the  term  native  hunters  all  whites  who  were  married  to 
Indian  women  prior  to  1893,  when  the  ruling  was  changed.  The  orig- 
inal ruling  of  the  Department,  made  some  twenty  years  ago,  remained 
in  force  until  1893,  and  in  the  meantime  many  white  hunters  married 
native  women,  made  homes,  and  raised  families,  and  became  natives  of 
Alaska  to  all  intents  and  purposes. 

All  their  earthly  possessions  are  invested  in  sea-otter  hunting  prop- 
erty, their  families  have  been  brought  up  to  that  business  exclusively, 
the  men  themselves  have  made  it  their  life  work,  and  are  now  too  old 
to  change  or  to  go  away  from  home  to  attempt  to  make  a  living  at  any 
other  business,  and  therefore  it  would  be  an  act  of  gross  injustice  to 
disturb  them  at  this  late  day.  With  the  white  man  who  married  a 
native  woman  after  the  Department  had  given  fair  warning  that  he 
would  not  be  given  the  rights  of  a  native  hunter  the  case  is  altogether 
different,  and  in  his  case  the  ruling  of  the  Department  ought  to  stand. 
The  farther  away  from  the  native  settlements  the  average  Alaskan 
white  hunter  can  be  kept  the  better  for  the  natives. 

FUR   SEALS. 

Sailing  from  Sitka  June  2,  on  board  the  U.  S.  revenue  cutter  AVs7/, 
Capt.  C.  L.  Hooper  commanding,  I  landed  at  St.  George  June  18,  where 
1  learned  that  the  preceding  winter  had  been  one  of  unusual  severity, 
that  ice  had  lain  around  the  island  until  June  15.  and  that,  up  to  the 
date  of  my  landing,  very  few  female  seals  had  appeared  upon  the 
rookeries. 

The  same  story  was  repeated  on  St.  Paul  Island,  where  I  spent  the 
19th  and  L'oth  of  June  visiting  the  principal  rookeries  and  hauling 
grounds,  after  which  I  sailed  away  and  visited  many  of  the  native  set- 
tlements along  the  Aleutian  chain,  particulars  of  which  will  be  given 
in  my  report  on  the  condition  of  the  native  tribes. 

1  returned  to  the  seal  inlands  early  in  July  and  spent  the  6th,  7th, 
and  Sth  on  the  rookeries  observing  their  daily  growth  and  expansion, 
as  the  cows  were  now  arriving  and  the  harems  were  well  denned  and 
the  pups  becoming  numerous. 

Being  well  aware  of  the  fact,  however,  that  it  is  not  till  about  July 
20  the  rookeries  are  full  for  the  season,  I  continued  to  follow  the  instruc- 
tions which  called  me  to  other  fields  until  July  18,  when  I  returned  to 
the  seal  islands,  where,  all  being  ready,  I  entered  on  the  most  careful 
and  thorough  inspection  of  the  rookeries  ever  made  by  me.  The  result 
is  shown  in  the  inclosed  table  marked  Exhibit  A. 

Beginning  at  St.  Paul  Island  July  L'l.and  completing  the  work  at  St. 
George  August  14,  I  walked  over  the  several  rookeries  and  counted 


364  SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PRIHILOF  'ISLANDS. 

every  individual  breeding  male  or  bull  seal  who  bad  a  harem,  noting 
and  counting  very  carefully,  too,  every  idle  bull,  or,  in  other  wordsr 
every  bull  whose  youth,  strength,  and  vigor  fitted  and  qualified  him  for 
a  harem  had  there  been  cows  to  be  found  in  sufficient  numbers  to  sup- 
ply them,  which,  unfortunately,  there  were  not.  So  carefully  and  so  sys- 
tematically was  the  counting  done  that  I  feel  I  can  recommend  the 
figures  as  being  as  nearly  correct  and  reliable  as  it  is  possible  to  get 
them. 

Under  the  head  of  bachelors,  or  young  males,  are  included  all  the 
seals  on  the  islands  other  than  those  on  the  breeding  rookeries,  many 
of  them  being  young  females,  too  young  to  go  on  to  the  breeding 
grounds. 

The  bachelors  have  been  estimated  by  me  in  the  usual  manner  of 
estimating  a  bunch  of  seals,  and  they  may  very  possibly  run  a  thousand 
or  two  more  or  less  than  the  figures  given. 

The  number  of  breeding  females  or  cows  is  based  on  an  arbitrary 
average  of  40  to  the  harem,  or  40  cows  to  every  breeding  bull,  as  was- 
adopted  in  and  followed  since  1891,  though  1  am  of  the  opinion  it  was 
an  overestimate  and  that  the  harems  never  did  and  do  not  now  contain 
an  average  of  40  cows  each. 

Having  adopted  that  number,  however,  and  having  used  it  so  long 
in  our  estimates,  it  was  necessary  to  use  it  in  the  present  instance  for 
the  sake  of  making  fair  comparisons  when  considering  the  steady 
annual  decrease  of  the  seal  herd  and  the  shrinkage  of  the  rookery  area* 

Admitting  the  average  number  of  cows  in  a  harem  to  be  less  than 
40 — and  I  believe  all  who  know  anything  about  seal  life  on  the  rook- 
eries will  admit  it  is — then  the  total  number  of  seals  in  the  herd,  as- 
estimated  by  me,  will  be  that  much  less  in  proportion. 

By  way  of  explanation  I  will  say  that  when  we  first  attempted  to 
count  the  bulls,  in  1891,  for  the  purpose  of  getting,  approximately,  at 
the  number  of  seals  on  the  islands,  it  was  deemed  best  to  run  the  risk 
of  overestimating  the  herds,  lest  Great  Britain  should  object  to  our 
figures  and  insist  on  a  recounting  and,  possibly,  discover  an  error  upon 
which  to  base  an  argument  against  us  for  the  purpose  of  showing  our 
anxiety  to  prove  the  wicked  wastefulness  of  pelagic  sealing. 

As  the  seals  were  at  that  time  too  numerous  and  the  harems  too  com- 
pact to  admit  of  our  going  through  and  among  them  as  we  can  now,  we 
simply  aimed  to  count  every  bull  we  could  see  and  multiply  the  num- 
ber found  by  two.  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not  possible  to  penetrate 
the  mass  far  enough  to  see  more  than  one-half  of  them. 

And,  lest  that  was  not  enough,  we  allowed  an  average  of  40  cows  to 
each  harem,  although  we  were  quite  certain  it  was  too  high. 

I  have  gone  over  the  rookeries  every  year,  in  season,  since  1891,  and 
I  have  noted  the  steady  decrease  of  the  herd  from  500,000  then  to 
237,800  in  1895,  when,  because  of  the  decrease,  I  was  able  to  go  in 
among  the  herd  at  the  height  of  the  season  and  count  every  bull  on  the 
islands. 

Whether  we  erred  in  our  estimates  in  our  first  crude  efforts  to  get  at 
the  facts  is  of  no  consequence  now,  for  the  fact  remains  that,  no  matter 
what  the  actual  numbers  were  in  1891,  more  than  one-half  of  the  whole 
herd  has  been  exterminated  since  then. 

Taking  it  for  granted  that  the  estimates  were  wrong,  the  proportion 
is  still  correct  for  all  practical  purposes,  so  that  if  we  take  the  500,000 
of  1891  against  the  237,800  of  1895,  we  find  an  average  annual  decrease 
of  52,440  for  the  five  years  beginning  with  1891  and  ending  with  1895. 

That  the  average  annual  loss  has  been  greater  than  this  can  be- 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  365 

demonstrated  from  the  statistics  oil  file  in  the  Department  which  show 
a,  pelagic  catch  of  Alaskan  seals  to  have  been  as  follows: 

1891  ..                                     45,491 

IS!IL> 46,642 

1893 28,613 

1S!M 55,668 

1895  (estimated) 40,000 


Total  for  Jive  years 216,  864 

to  which  I  add  o'O  percent  for  the  loss  of  pups  that  died  on  the  rookeries 
because  of  the  killing  of  their  dams  at  sea  during  the  nursing  season. 

I  base  the  proportion  of  pups  on  what  I  witnessed  this  year  in  Bering 
Sea,  where  the  logs  kept  by  the  sealers  showed  a  killing  of  (JO  per  cent 
females  for  the  season :  21(>,8(>4  plus  <>0  per  cent  equals  34(i,98'J  seals 
taken  or  destroyed  in  live  years  by  pelagic  sealers  who  pay  nothing 
whatever  for  the  care  of  the  animals. 

I  have  estimated  40,000  as  the  catch  for  1895.  1  left  Bering  Sea  Sep- 
tember 18.  when  31,iM(>  seals  had  beeu  taken  by  pelagic  sealers,  of  which 
number  IS.SCSor  CO  per  cent  were  females  as  per  the  logs  of  the  several 
vessels.  These  females  were  nursing  mothers  in  milk,  whose  young 
were  left  upon  the  rookeries  while  they  went  out  to  sea  for  food  and 
rest,  instead  of  which  they  met  the  pelagic  sealer  who,  according  to  law, 
killed  them  and  carried  off  their  skins  and  left  their  helpless  young  to 
bleat  themselves  to  death  upon  the  rookeries. 

In  a  former  report  I  pointed  out  the  absurdity  of  the  regulations  that 
would  protect  the  female  seals  from  the  pelagic  sealer  during  the 
months  of  May,  June,  and  July,  most  of  which  time  they  are  on  the 
islands  and  beyond  his  reach,  and  that  would  give  him  a  clear  and 
free  field  in  August,  as  soon  as  the  mother  seal  takes  to  the  water 
in  search  of  much  needed  food  and  rest  and  when,  above  all  other  times, 
she  needs  protection. 

The  taking  of  31,000  seals  in  the  month  of  August,  1895,  proves  the 
correctness  of  my  position,  and  renders  it  needless  to  dwell  upon  the 
absurdity  of  the  position  the  nation  has  been  placed  in  by  the  present 
sealing  regulations. 

I  therefore  most  respectfully  call  the  attention  of  the  Department  to 
the  five  suggestions  made  by  me  in  my  report  of  last  year,  the  adop- 
tion of  which  I  believe  will  forever  settle  the  seal  question. 

SALMON. 

Owing  to  a  lack  of  traveling  facilities  to  the  several  canneries  during 
the  fishing  season,  and  to  the  fact  that  the  whole  revenue  fleet  of  the 
Pacific  Ooast  had  to  do  duty  in  Bering  Sea,  I  found  it  impossible  to 
visit  many  of  the  canneries  beyond  Karluk,  where  I  found  that  one  of 
the  rival  establishments  had  sold  out  to  the  Alaska  Packers'  Associa- 
tion and  quit  the  business,  thus  leaving  only  two  principal  competitors 
on  the  river — the  Alaska  Improvement  Company  and  the  Alaska  Pack- 
ers' Association. 

Much  crimination  and  recrimination  were  indulged  in  on  both  sides 
as  each  endeavored  to  show  it  was  the  other  one  who  violated  the  law, 
and  a  string  of  complaints  was  presented  by  the  Indians  similar  to 
those  presented  by  the  same  party  in  1894,  and  of  which  I  treated  in 
my  report  for  that  year. 

I  found  the  fishermen  with  their  nets  in  the  narrowest  part  of  the 
Karluk  River,  and  so  systematically  do  they  work  the  nets  that  I  could 


Gu'6  SEAL    LIFK    OX    THE    1'RIIULOF    ISLANDS. 

not  set*  how  it  was  possible  tor  a  fish  to  ever  pass  them  to  the  spawn- 
ing grounds. 

Remonstrating  with  the  tbreinan  about  such  flagrant  violation  of  the 
law  and  o!'  his  own  promise,  made  in  IS'.M.  tliat  sueli  methods  should 
not  be  continued,  lie  replied:  ••  1  was  sent  here  to  take  lish:  my  orders 
are  to  lake  them  wheiever  I  can  lind  them,  and  1  am  going  to  obey  my 
orders." 

lie  afterwards  explained  to  me  how,  during  the  storms  when  the 
water  is  too  roi  gh  to  allow  the  spreading  of  nets,  enough  salmon  pass 
into  and  up  the  river  to  supply  twice  the  quantity  of  spawn  required 
for  perpetuating  the  stock. 

His  rival  across  the  river  indorsed  him  in  all  this,  but  added:  ';As 
soon  as  the  storm  ceases  the  fishermen  follow  the  salmon  upstream  to 
the  playground  and  capture  every  one  of  them."1 

Exhibit  11,  which  accompanies  this  report,  is  a  copy  of  a  bill  which  I 
would  like  to  see  become  law.  for  1  believe  it  would,  if  enforced,  put  an 
end  to  the  present  wasteful  methods  of  salmon  slaughter  in  Alaska 
without  doing  injury  to  any  honestly  conducted  enterprise  in  the 
Territory. 

Exhibit  (.'  is  a  detailed  statement  of  the  salmon  pack  in  Alaska  for 
1SJ».">.  showing  the  number  of  lish  taken,  the  number  of  cases  put  up, 
and  the  numberof  men — white,  native, and  (  Miinese — employed  ;  also  the 
cost  of  the  tin  consumed  in  the  business,  the  amount  invested  in  each 
plant  owned  by  the  Alaska  Packers'  Association,  and  other  data  as  per 
instructions.  The  only  item  of  prime  interest  1  have  been  unable  to 
secure  is  the  selling  price  of  the  product  of  each  cannery  in  the  market 
to  which  it  is  consigned. 

Through  the  kindness  and  courtesy  of  the  Alaska  Packers'  Associ- 
ation 1  have  learned  that  the  average  selling  price  in  San  Francisco, 
where  the  greater  bulk  of  the  whole  pack  is  sold,  is  as  follows:  Silver 
salmon,  si'  cents  per  do/en:  red  salmon.  \)'2\  cents  per  dozen:  king 
salmon.  OL'J,  cents  per  do/en,  and  barrels  of  UOO  pounds  net,  84.7."). 

Considering  that  only  very  lew  silver  salmon  are  taken  and  packed, 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  whole  number  of  cases  put  up  in  1895  averaged 
£.':>.  00  per  case,  or  a  sum  equal  to  ^-,±^,7(14. 10,  which,  added  to  the 
price  of  Hi.sr>7  barrels  at  s4.7."i.  makes  a  grand  total  of  *_!,3-!0,0<>8  as 
the  price  reali/ed  on  Alaskan  salmon  in  18!)."). 

Exhibit  E  is  a  summary  of  the  salmon  pack  of  the  Pacific  (-oast  and 
Alaska  for  1S!>.~».  showing  a  grand  total  of -,040,0111  cases  of  48  pounds 
each,  the  largest  yearly  catch  on  record.  An  examination  of  the  figures 
shows  that  about  one  third  of  this  catch  was  taken  from  the  streams  of 
Alaska. 

That  adequate  protection  should  be  given  to  these  streams  by  which 
the  salmon  may  be  perpetuated  indefinitely  goes  without  saying,  and 
yet  I  find  it  the  hardest  part  of  all  to  make  men  believe  there  is  any 
danger  in  t  lie  present  methods  of  fishing. 

'lhat  1  might  not  be  accused  of  setting  my  own  individual  opinion 
against  men  of  practical  experience,  1  addressed  letters  of  inquiry  to 
many  gentlemen  who  are  deeply  interested  in  Alaska,  whose  homes 
are  there,  and  who  have  everything  at  stake  in  the  successor  failure 
of  t  lie  Territory. 

To  Mr.  William  Duncan  (Ealher  Duncan),  of  Metlakahtla,  1  sent  a. 
series  of  questions  which  1  requested  should  be  submitted  to  his  peo- 
ple for  consideration  and  the  answers  given  to  me  when  1  called  at  the 

Th<-  phi\  ground  i-  that  part  of  thr  stream  where  the  salt  and  fresh  \vatcrs  meet 
and  mingle,  in  which  the  salmon  prefer  to  live  for  several  weeks  before  spawning. 


SI:AL  LIFE  ON  THE  PRIBILOF  ISLANDS.  367 

settlement  in  the  fall.  As  I  did  not  have  the  opportunity  to  return  by 
that  route,  I  could  not  call  at  Metlakahtla  as  I  intended,  so  Mr.  Dun- 
can very  kindly  sent  me  the  following-  letter: 


MKTI.AKAIITLA,  ALASKA,  October  /.:,  7X9.7. 

My  DEAR  Mic.  MrnuAv:  Your  letter  dated  Inalaska,  September  11,  only  reached 
me  the  latter  part  of  last  week.  It  ha<l  been  detained  at  Kitcheoan  over  a  week 
through  the  lack  of  courtesy  of  the  postmaster  there. 

Oil  my  arrival  home  last  May,  after  the  pleasant  trip  in  your  company  to  Sitka,  I 
called  a  meeting  of  our  people  and  propounded  to  them  the  several  knotty  questions 
you  had  suggested  for  our  consideration.  Last  night  we  held  another  meeting,  to  a 
late  hour,  on  the  same  business,  and  I  was  much  pleased  with  the  sensible  way  the 
natives  took  part  in  the  discussion. 

Question  1.  "  How  to  secure  possession  of  Annette  Island  to  our  people  and  to  such 
other  Indians  as  may  join  them  from  surrounding  bands,  whether  by  individual  or 
community  title." 

Our  answer  to  this  question  is  a  unanimous  voice  in  favor  of  a  community  title, 
and  the  town  council  being  empowered  to  grant  allotments  of  land  for  legitimate 
purposes  to  individuals  as  circumstances  may  arise  calling  for  such  action. 

By  this  plan  the  present  unity  and  regulations  in  the  community  could  be  pre- 
served, whereas  if  individual  titles  of  160  acres  were  granted  by  the  Government, 
the  holder  of  each  allotment  being  thus  independent  of  the  community,  conflicting 
interests  might  result  in  a  rupture  which  would  be  very  prejudicial  to  the  character 
and  progress  of  the  settlement. 

Question  2.  "How  can  the  rights  of  the  natives  to  the  salmon  streams  be  best 
secured  and  maintained  ?" 

Our  answer  is,  that,  pending  the  Indians  arriving  at  full  American  citizenship  and 
responsibility,  the  Government  might  proclaim  all  salmon  streams  Indian  reserva- 
tions or  Government  property,  and  only  allow  fishing  in  them  to  proper  persons  and 
under  proper  regulations. 

Such  a  law  would  prevent  canning  companies  from  taking  exclusive  control  of  the 
salmon  streams,  and  might  be  made  an  important  factor  for  bettering  the  condition 
of  the  natives. 

At  present  Alaska  is  in  danger  of  losing  one  of  its  greatest  food  supplies,  through 
cannery  operations.  The  Indians  are  born  fishermen,  and  being  permanent  residents 
of  the  country  fishing  should,  to  a  great  extent,  be  in  their  hands,  not  as  employees 
only,  but  as  vendors  of  the  salmon  to  the  canneries. 

Question  3.  "How  best  to  preserve  salmon  life  in  Alaska  ?" 

Our  answer  to  question  2  partly  applies  as  answer  to  this.  I  will,  however, 
enumerate  our  views : 

(1)  Let  the  salmon  streams  be  declared  Government  property,  and  the  fishing  in 
them  be  absolutely  controlled  under  Government  regulations  and  by  Government 
agents. 

(2)  Only  permit  a  certain  number  of  salmon  to  be  taken  from  each  stream,  the 
number  being  decided  by  the  capacity  of  the  stream. 

(3)  Allow  no  modern  barricades  to  be  used  in  the  streams,  and  even  the  simple  ones 
which  have  always  been  used  by  the  natives  ought  to  be  removed  on  Saturdays  in- 
each  week. 

(4)  A  limit  should  be  placed  to  the  pack  of  each  cannery.     I  think  20,000  cases 
should  be  the  limit.     If,  however,  canneries  can  keep  on  increasing  their  pack  and 
extending  their  time  each  year,  as  at  present,  fewer  salmon  each  season  will  be  left 
for  reproduction. 

(5)  No  cannery  should  be  allowed  to  work  on  Sunday,  and  if  fishing  was  forbidden 
after  noon  on  Saturday  till  midnight  Sunday  of  each  week  Sunday  labor  would 
cease.     We  strictly  keep  to  this  rule  at  Metlakahtla. 

Question  4.  "  How  best  to  suppress  liquor  traffic?" 

(1)  Our  answer  is,  give  the  present  liquor  law  a  fair  trial,  and  to  that  end  every 
liquor  saloon  in  Alaska  should  be  suppressed  and  every  drop  of  liquor  now  in  it 
should  be  destroyed. 

(2)  Any  person  found  smuggling  or  selling  liquor  in  Alaska  should  be  fined  and 
imprisoned. 

(3)  Do  away  with  the  juries  at  the  trial  of  liquor  cases.     Let  the  judges  or  com- 
missioners appointed  by  the  Government  decide,  upon  certain  given  evidence,  on  the 
guilt  of  the   persons  arrested  for  offenses  against  the  liquor  law  and  an  appeal 
allowed  only  to  the  supreme  district  court. 

(4)  Let  every  person  found  intoxicated  be  imprisoned,  and  in  the  case  of  natives 
the  sentence  to  be  commuted  if  the  prisoner  will  give  information  leading  to  the 
conviction  of  the  person  or  persons  who  supplied  him  with  the  liquors  that  intoxi- 
cated him. 


368  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

(5)  Let  every  informer  against  offenders  in  liquor  cases  (if  his  evidence  leads  to  a 
conviction)  be  rewarded  by  receiving  a  part  of  the  fine  imposed  on  the  offender. 

(6)  Let  every  commissioner  in  Alaska  be  instructed  to  swear  in  a  goodly  number 
of  special  police,  without  salary,  especially  among  the  natives,  and  let  these  be 
encouraged  to  assist  in  carrying  out  this  law. 

Question  5.  "  Should  absolute  title  to  land  in  Alaska  be  given  to  cannery  corpo- 
rations?" 

Our  answer  to  this  is,  we  think  that  title  to  the  land  on  which  they  have  placed 
canneries  should  be  given,  but  not  to  lands  used  only  as  fishing  stations. 

Question  6.  "As  to  the  granting  of  titles  to  land  to  whites  in  general." 

"NVe  think  that  just  so  long  as  the  Government  refuses  to  give  titles  to  land  in 
Alaska  the  country  will  be  overrun  with  an  irresponsible  floating  population. 
Owing  to  the  characteristics  of  the  country  this  will  be  true,  to  a  large  extent,  in 
any  event;  but  the  ownership  of  property  would  have  a  tendency  to  locate  some 
permanent  residents. 

Question  7.  "Should  the  exportation  of  lumber  from  Alaska  be  allowed?" 

We  think  that  until  the  country  is  more  settled  up  the  law  forbidding  the  expor- 
tati'Mi  of  lumber,  which  now  exists,  should  remain  in  force. 

Question  8.  "Indian  citizenship." 

We  think  that  question  had  better  be  delayed.     No  doubt  there  are  some  natives 
ripe  for  the  position,  but  the  mass  are  not  so.     Let  the  missionary  and  school  teacher 
continue  their  work  till  the  goal  be  reached. 
Yours,  very  respectfully, 

W.  DUNCAN. 

Hon.  JOSEPH   Ml'RRAY, 

Fort  Collins,  Colo. 

I  respectfully  ask  particular  attention  of  the  Department  to  this  letter 
of  Mr.  Duncan,  for  I  believe  that  the  adoption  of  many  of  his  sugges- 
tions would  be  a  full  and  satisfactory  solution  of  the  many  knotty  prob- 
lems at  present  perplexing  all  who  feel  a  worthy  and  laudable  interest 
in  the  present  good  and  future  welfare  of  Alaska. 

Another  and  an  entirely  different  phase  of  the  salmon  question  was 
brought  to  my  attention  by  Mr.  John  C.  Oallbreath,  of  Fort  Wrangell, 
who  has  been  endeavoring,  single-handed,  to  introduce  and  propagate 
salmon  in  streams  where  they  did  not  exist,  or  from  which  they  had 
been  driven  before.  I  promised  him  in  the  spring  that  I  would  visit  his 
hatchery  in  the  fall  during  my  stay  in  the  vicinity,  but  I  did  not  get  an 
opportunity  to  return  that  way. 

The  following  letter  was  written  afterwards  by  Mr.  Oallbreath  and 
deserves  careful  consideration.  Particular  attention  is  called  to  that 
portion  of  it  treating  of  special  "  property  rights  to  the  producer  for  all 
fish  in  excess  of  the  natural  product  of  the  stream.'7 

What  Mr.  Callbreath  wants  is  assurance  that  after  he  has  success- 
fully stocked  a  stream  with  salmon,  where  none  or  but  very  few  existed 
before,  he  will  be  given  rights  in  the  fish  as  against  all  other  claimants 
who  might  desire  to  establish  canneries  on  the  stream.  But  here  is  his 
letter  to  speak  for  itself: 

SEATTLE,  WASH.,  December  10,  1S95.  . 

DEAR  SIR:  I  regret  my  inability  to  have  forwarded  you  an  account  of  salmon 
hatchery  at  an  earlier  day.  Business  in  the  interior,  from  which  point  there  was  no 
means  oif  communication,  detained  me  until  late  in  the  fall.  I  have,  however,  a  trusted 
superintendent  trained  under  my  own  care,  who  has  made  a  complete  success  up  to 
November  1.  I  shall  return  soon  and  give  the  business  my  personal  attention  until 
the  young  fry  are  out  and  placed  in  their  respective  preserves. 

My  process  of  hatching  is  the  same  as  that  followed  by  the  Government  hatcheries 
at  Clackamas,  in  the  State  of  Oregon,  and  need  not  be  described  here. 

My  hatchery  is  situated  on  the  western  side  of  Etholine  Island,  on  a  lake  discharg- 
ing through  a  small  stream,  a  mere  brook,  into  McHenry  Inlet — and  producing  from 
3,000  to  5,000  sukkesh  (Oncorhynchus  nerka)  salmon,  an  amount  too  insignificant  to 
be  fished  by  the  canuers  or  salters — and  known  among  the  Indians  and  fishermen  as 
a  "  cuttus  chuck,"  or  worthless  stream.  The  lake  on  which  my  hatchery  is  located  is 
about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  tide  water  and  contains  about  500  acres. 

I  have  built  a  dam  8  feet  high  across  the  creek  a  few  yards  above  tide  water,  over 
which  no  fish  unaided  can  pass.  When  the  sukkesh  start  to  ascend  the  stream  for 


SEAL    LIFE    OX    THE    PUIBILOF    ISLANDS.  369 

j,  they  are  impounded  in  a  trap  below  the  dam,  picked  up  with  a  dip  net.  and 
carefully  placed  above  the  dam.  from  whence  they  quickly  proceed  up  to  the  lake, 
where  they  lie  in  the  still,  deep  water  until  ripe  for  spawning,  a  period  of  from  two 
to  six  weeks.  They  then  take  to  t  he  small  dear  M  reams  running  into  the  lake,  where 
they  are  again  impounded  by  means  of  a  weir  and  trap,  and  are  stripped  of  their 
The  eggs  are  then  fertilized  by  etripping  the  male  over  them,  placed  in  baskets, 
and  set  in  troughs  in  the  way  usual  in  all  hatcheries.  A  peculiarity  about  this  class 
of  salmon,  the  (hicorli i/nch u»  nerka,  is  that  they  will  not  frequent  a  stream  unless  it 
has  a  lake  where  they 'can  lie  and  ripen  before  spawning,  although  they  never  spawn 
in  the  lake;  all 'the  other  species  of  Alaskan  salmon  frequent  the  streams  where  they 
can  obtain  spawning  ground  indiscriminately  whether  they  have  lakes  or  not. 

My  object  in  damming  my  stream  near  tide  water  is  to  keep  back  all  enemies  of 
the  young  fry,  such  as  sea  trout,  bull  heads,  sculpins,  sticklebacks,  etc. ;  by  this 
means  I  have  my  lake  and  streams  cleared  of  these  scourges  of  the  young  salmon, 
as  they  are  all  salt-water  fish,  and  only  go  up  to  the  lakes  for  plunder,  returning  to 
salt  water  when  their  season  is  over,  of  course  there  were  many  of  them  in  the 
lake  and  streams  the  first  year,  but  when  they  passed  down  over  the  darn  they  could 
never  return.  To  protect  the  young  fry  from  their  enemies  in  the  fresh  water  I 
believe  to  be  the  great  secret  of  successlul  salmon  propagation.  There  is  no  bar  to 
the  number  of  young  that  can  be  produced  at  the  Government  hatcheries,  where  the 
spawn  in  unlimited  quantities  can  be  obtained.  But  unless  protected  from  their 
enemies  while  young  (and  everything  large  enough  to  swallow  them  are  their  ene- 
mies) a  large  proportion  of  them  are  destroyed  in  fresh  water.  In  my  own  case, 
however,  the  supply  of  fish  is  limited,  and  all  are  utilized. 

My  lake  now  fairly  swarms  with  young  salmon  where  heretofore  scarcely  one 
could  be  seen.  I  find,  however,  that  the  sea  trout  and  others  named  are  not  their 
only  enemies.  Their  older  brothers  feed  on  the  young  fry.  The  young  salmon 
remain  in  the  fresh  water  where  they  were  hatched  fourteen  to  eighteen  months,  so 
they  have  from  two  to  four  months  to  prey  on  their  young  brothers.  Then,  after 
going  to  sea,  they  will  return  for  a  short  time  to  their  native  streams  for  a  cannibal- 
istic feast,  and  here  again  in  my  case  my  dam  acts  as  protector  to  the  little  ones,  as 
when  once  they  pass  down  they  can  not  return.  I  have  seen  them  in  vast  numbers 
about  the  size  of  sardines,  and  packed  almost  as  close,  below  the  dam,  trying  to  get  up, 
but  they  soon  disappear  and  return  to  salt  water.  In  connection  with  this  matter 
of  protecting  the  younger  from  their  older  brothers,  1  last  year  commenced  an  exper- 
imental process,  which  I  feel  encouraged  to  believe  will  prove  successful;  that  is, 
by  turning  out  a  portion  of  niy  young  fry  in  streams,  on  which  there  are  lakes  that 
fall  into  the  sea  by  falls,  over  which  no  fish  can  pass.  As  a  consequence,  most  of 
these  streams  and  lakes  are  entirely  barren  of  fish  of  any  kind.  There  are  three 
streams  and  lakes  of  this  description  contiguous  to  my  hatchery.  In  the  winter  of 
1894-95  I  placed  1,000,000  young  fry  into  one  of  these  lakes,  and  the  present  season 
of  1895-96  will  place  2,000,000  in  another  lake,  and  so  keep  on  alternating  until  I 
prove  whether  they  will  return  to  these  streams.  At  the  same  time  I  will  keep  on 
stocking  my  own  hatchery  lake  with  as  many  as  I  think  it  will  sustain.  If  my 
experiment  of  stocking  these  heretofore  barren  lakes  and  streams  proves  successful, 
and  I  can  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not,  it  will  prove  of  great  value  to  the  salmon 
fisheries  of  this  coast,  as  these  lakes  abound  all  along  the  Alaskan  coast. 

I  commenced  my  hatchery  in  the  fall  of  1892,  but  owing  to  the  impure  water  of 
the  creek,  which  contains  a  large  amount  of  impurities,  had  but  indifferent  success, 
turning  out  only  about  600,000.  I  then  moved  my  hatchery  up  to  the  lake,  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile,  where  I  found  streams  of  pure  water  and  even  temperature, 
45°  in  summer  and  never  below  38°  in  winter,  and  then  the  fish  ripened  more 
healthily,  as  they  were  in  their  natural  water.  In  the  fall  of  1893,  however,  there 
was  but  a  small  run  of  salmon,  but  the  eggs  hatched  much  better  and  I  turned  out 
about  1,700,000  young  fry.  The  season  of  1894-95  we  had  a  better  run  and  turned 
out  1,500,000  in  one  hatchery  lake  and  1,000,000  in  the  barren  lake  before  mentioned. 
The  present  winter  of  1895-96  we  will  turn  out  4,000,000  or  over,  having  had  a  much 
larger  run  than  usual,  which  we  will  distribute  between  our  hatchery  lake  and  two 
other  barren  lakes.  These  three  barren  lakes  are  situated,  respectively.  3,  6,  and  9 
miles  from  our  hatchery,  and  entails  a  good  deal  of  labor  and  expense  cutting  trails 
and  carrying  the  young  fish  in  buckets  to  their  nursery.  There  are  a  few  echoes 
(Onoorkynchiu  kixntch)  that  frequent  our  stream,  but  never  more  than  400.  As  they 
are  a  good  fish,  although  not  as  valuable  as  the  sukkesh,  we  also  pass  them  over  the 
da  m  and  strip  them.  Their  time  of  running  is  about  six  week^later  than  the  sukkesh. 

Owing  to  the  smallnessof  our  hatchery  stream,  we  have  opportunities  of  observing 
the  habits  of  the  salmon  with  greater  accuracy  than  on  large  streams.  From  close 
observation  made  for  a  number  of  years,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  no  salmon  return 
to  the  sea  after  ascending  for  propagating  purposes,  unless  their  natural  habits  of 
copulating  are  interferred  with.  I  am,  however,  of  the  opinion  that  some  of  the 
males  will  return  if  they  are  kept  from  the  spawning  beds  and  from  performing  the 

S.  Doc.  137,  pt.  1 24 


370  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

functions  of  nature  for  which  they  ascend;  that  is  to  say,  if  left  to  their  natural 
state  they  will  all  die.  And  the  females  will  all  die  anyway.  But  the  males,  if 
they  do  not  connect  with  a  spawning  bed,  their  milt  in  some  cases  does  not  liquify, 
but  remains  solid,  and  some  of  them  will  return  to  the  sea.  But  had  they  not  been 
barred  from  the  spawning  beds  their  milt  would  liquify  and  they  would  all  die. 

We  have  discovered  what  seems  to  us  to  be  anew  variety  of  sea  trout,  quite.  similar 
to  the  rainbow,  with  the  addition  of  a  gristly  hook,  or  turning  up  of  the  lower  jaw, 
and  fitting  into  a  recess  in  the  end  of  the  upper  jaw,  completely  covering  the  end 
of  the  snout  and  fitting  in  the  recess  so  neatly  that  it  will  not  be  observed  unless 
the  jaws  are  open.  I  can  find  no  description  of  a  similar  trout  in  the  treatise  sent  me 
in  June,  1894,  by  the  Fish  Commissioner,  Hon.  Marshall  McDonald,  which  gave  a  full 
description  of  all  the  different  species  of  trout.  We  have  no  alcohol  or  would  have 
preserved  a  specimen. 

According  to  the  rule  generally  accepted  by  scientific  men,  the  salmon  will  return 
four  years  from  the  time  their  parents  enter  the  stream  for  spawning  purposes,  which 
will  bring  my  first  salmon  back  the  coming  summer,  when  I  will  be  able  to  give 
you  a  more  definite  account  of  my  venture. 

I  think,  in  cases  like  my  own,  where  hitherto  worthless  streams  are  built  up  and 
made  to  produce  large  quantities  of  valuable  fish  that  will  assemble  in  the  bays  or 
inlets  at  the  mouths  of  the  streams,  where  they  have  been  bred,  that  hitherto*  pro- 
duced none,  so  to  speak,  a  law  of  Congress  should  be  passed  giving  property  rights 
to  the  producer  for  all  fish  in  excess  of  the  natural  product  of  the  stream.  It  is  held 
by  legal  men  that  I  have  consulted  on  the  subject  that  I  will  have  a  property  right 
in  such  fish,  but  it  would  be  far  better  if  such  rights  were  reent'orced  by  an  act  of 
Congress. 

I  have  kept  a  careful  account  of  all  the  sukkesh  and  echoes  that  we  passed  over  the 
dam  from  day  to  day,  so  that  I  can  tell  exactly  the  number  of  fish  that  the  stream 
normally  produced. 

Hoping  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  on  your  return, 
I  remain,  yours,  truly, 

JOHN  C.  CALLBKEATH. 

Hon.  JOSEPH  MURRAY, 

Special  Agent  for  the  Protection  of  Salmon  Fisheries  in  Alaska. 


p.  gt  —  i  win  oe  at  Fort  Wrangell  during  February,  and  should  be  pleased  to  hear 
from  you. 

J.  C.  C. 

Now,  here  is  a  man  who,  though  not  wealthy,  has  spent  money  and 
many  years'  valuable  time  making  experiments  in  one  of  the  most  useful 
and  honorable  of  the  arts  —  the  production  of  human  food. 

Such  men  deserve  a  patient  hearing  and  every  possible  encourage- 
ment, and  in  the  hope  of  his  getting  both  I  respectfully  recommend 
his  very  timely  and  practical  letter  to  the  serious  consideration  of  the 
Department. 

Exhibit  D  gives  the  names  of  the  canneries  and  packing  stations, 
Exhibit  E  shows  the  sailing  distances  one  must  travel  from  cannery  to 
cannery  in  order  to  see  all  of  them,  and  shows  conclusively,  1  think, 
that  in  order  to  see  all  of  them  in  one  season  it  will  be  necessary  to  detail 
a  revenue  cutter  to  carry  the  agent. 

A  revenue  cutter  could  make  the  trip  between  June  1  and  July  20, 
completing  the  journey  at  the  canneries  in  Bering  Sea  in  ample  time  to 
report  for  patrol  duty  in  August. 

Exhibit  G  gives  a  summary  of  the  Alaskan  and  Pacific  Coast  salmon 
pack  from  1866  to  1895,  both  inclusive,  showing  at  a  glance  that  the 
Alaskan  streams  were  drawn  upon  to  their  utmost  capacity  in  1891, 
when  789,294  cases  of  48  pounds  each  were  packed,  with  the  result  of  a 
falling  off  of  40  per  cent  the  following  year. 

The  wisdom  of  pfotectingan  industry  that  has  yielded  in  the  thirteen 
years  of  its  existence  5,505,002  cases  of  salmon,  worth  822,000,000, 
should  not  be  lightly  questioned  or  set  aside,  and  when  it  is  remembered 
that,  excepting  the  civilized  Indians  with  Mr.  Duncan  at  Metlakahtla, 
there  is  not  a  resident  cannery  owner  in  Alaska,  and  that  not  one  dollar 
of  all  the  millions  taken  from  her  streams  is  left  or  spent  in  the  Terri- 
tory, it  will  be  conceded,  I  think,  by  all  fair-minded  men  that  the  least 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS.  371 

the  General  Government  can  do  is  to  protect  the  fish  against  extermi- 
nation, ami  the  native,  dependent  solely  upon  a  salmon  diet,  in  his  right 
to  an  abundant  supply  of  salmon  for  food.  These  two  things  are  easy 
of  accomplishment  if  immediate  steps  are  taken,  but  if  neglected  much 
longer  the  task  will  be  a  most  dillicult  one. 

In  order  to  protect  the  salmon  streams  the  laws  must  be  enforced, 
and  it  is,  unfortunately,  only  too  true  that  up  to  date  there  has  not 
been  a  united  attempt  made  to  enforce  them. 

The  I'nited  States  commissioner  at  Fort  YVrangell — one  of  the  few 
fearless  ones  who  only  know  their  duty — wrote  me  a  full  account  of  how 
the  law  is  disregarded,  evaded,  and  not  enforced  by  officers  whose  duty 
it  is  to  uphold  the  law  at  all  hazards.  The  letter  covers  a  wide  field, 
and  is  quite  plain  and  outspoken,  using  men's  real  names,  the  printing 
of  which  in  my  report  is  not  now  considered  necessary;  I  will  therefore 
suppress  names  and  quote  only  a  few  passages  relating  to  salmon 
matters. 

Case  after  case  has  been  compromised  at  the  instance  of  attorneys  for  their  clients 
in  criminal  cases.  Take  one  example:  In  July,  1893,  Mr.  J.  G.  Brady,  who  was  then 
acting  United  States  attorney  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Johnson,  entertained  a  com- 
plaint of  the  natives  against  cannery  men  for  obstructing  salmon  streams.  Mr.  Brady 
prevailed  upon  Commander  Burwell,  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Pinta,  to  convey  him  and  other 
necessary  officers  to  Klawak  and  Loriug.  *  They  came  via  Fort  Wraugell  and 

requested  me  to  accompany  them.  The  Pinta  reached  Loring  in  the  night,  and  we 
found  the  river  "fenced ''  from  shore  to  shore,  and  about  4  tons  of  salmon  in  the  traps 
and  nets.  We  caused  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Heckman,  the  superintendent  of  the  cannery, 
ami  plao-d  him  under  bond  of  $3,000,  requiring  him  to  appear  before  the  United 
States  district  court  at  its  next  session. 

The  law,  as  you  are  aware,  imposes  a  fine  of  $250  for  every  day  a  stream  is 
obstructed.  Court  did  not  convene  until  after  the  retirement  of  the  dis- 
trict attorney,  Mr. ,  and  the  appointment  of  his  successor,  Mr.  —  — ,  who 

agreed  to  accept  the  nominal  fine  of  $100.  Superintendent  Wadleigh,  of 

the  Klawak  cannery,  was  also  placed  under  bonds,  and  although  two  terms  of  court 

have  since  been  held  he  has  not  been  required  to  appear.     The is  lending  a 

hand  in  helping  to  whitewash  his  case. 

These  t\\o  cases,  including  the  trip  of  the  Putin,  have  cost  the  Government  more 
than  $1,000. 

The  officers  who  placed  the  men  under  bonds  have  been  humiliated,  while  the  vio- 
lators of  the  law,  aided  by  officials  disloyal  to  the  Government,  have  won  a  great 
victory. 

I  could  cite  many  cases  in  which  official  positions  are  used  to  shield  crime  and 
defeat  the  ends  of  justice. 

Your  obedient  servant,  WM.  A.  KELLY,  Commissioner. 

Were  it  necessary  to  add  to  or  confirm  the  commissioner's  words,  I 
would  say  that  while  at  Loriug  in  1894  Hon.  C.  S.  Hamlin,  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  accompanied  by  Capt.  C.  L.  Hooper,  com- 
manding the  revenue  cutter  7b//.s7/,  attempted  to  go  up  the  river  in  a 
small  boat,  but  soon  found  themselves  barred  out  by  the  identical 
" fence"  mentioned  in  the  commissioner's  letter. 

The  Wadleigh  case  referred  to  was  called  in  court  at  Juneau  last 
May,  and  in  my  presence  his  attorney  arose  and  said:  Mr.  Wadleigh 
had  written  and  ottered  to  pay  as  much  as  it  would  cost  him  to  travel 
back  and  forth  on  the  steamer  from  Klawak  to  Juneau,  some  $40,  on 
condition  that  the  Government  dropped  the  complaint. 

Now.  here  is  a  »-a<e  where  the  man  was  taken  red-handed  in  the  act 

he  does  not  attempt  denial— and  yet,  although  it  happened  in  1893,  he 
has  not  been  brought  to  trial,  but  instead  of  answering  the  summons 
of  the  court  he  impudently  writes  back  his  ultimatum,  which  was  scri 
ously  considered  by  the  district  attorney,  who  would  have  accepted  it 
had  I  not  been  present  and  strongly  protested  against  the  whole  farce. 

In  justice  to  the  present  district  attorney  for  Alaska,  I  will  say  all 
these  things  happened  prior  to  his  appointment. 


372 


SKAL   I.IFI;  <>.\  Tin:  PKIT.ILOF   ISLANDS. 


CONCH  SioN. 

Knough  has  been  said  1  think  to  show  the  necessity  of  some  radical 
changes  in  Alaska,  the  first  of  whi'-h  should  be  the  enforcement  of  the 
law. 

1  therefore  most  respectfully  recommend  the  following: 

First.  The  repeal  of  the  present  prohibitory  liquor  law  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  high  license. 

Second.  That  a  revenue  cutter  and  three  armed  steam  launches  be 
permanently  located  in  Alaskan  waters. 

Third.  That  the  custom  house  on  Mary  island  be  discontinued  and 
removed  to  a  more  desirable,  because  more  useful,  location  in  the 
Tongas  Narrows. 

Fourth.  That  Alaska  be  divided  into  at  least  two  judici.il  districts, 
with  one  judge  at  Sitka  and  one  at  Circle  City,  on  the  Yukon. 

Fifth.  That  three  additional  commissioners  be  appointed. one  at  Cnga, 
one  at  St.  Michaels,  and  one  at  Circle  City. 

Sixth.  That  a  deputy  collector  iif  not  a  custom  house'  be  located  at 
Cnga. 

Seventh.  That  a  marine  hospital  be  erected  at  Cnalaska.  (Fitherof 
the  trailing  companies  will  erect  and  furnish  a  building  if  the  Depart- 
ment will  furnish  medicines  and  a  physician., 

Fighth.  That  Alaska  be  allowed  a  Delegate  to  Congress. 

There  are  many  important  matters  that  I  have  not  referred  to  in  this 
report,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  condition  of  the  native  tribes  on  the 
Aleutian  Islands  and  in  southeastern  Alaska :  schools  and  post-oHiees 
on  the  Yukon  1'iverand  in  the  great  interior — allot' which  will  be  dealt 
with  in  a  future  report. 

The  proposed  changes  are  really  necessary  to  the  present  and  future 
welfare  of  Alaska,  and.  because  of  the  rapidly  increasing  white  popu- 
lation flocking  to  the  rich  gold  diggings,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that 
the  law  should  be  rigidly  enforced.  The  wealth  of  Alaska  in  furs, 
fish,  and  gold,  if  properly  protected  by  the  (lovcriiment.  will  be  of 
immense  value,  which  may  be  made  to  increase  annually,  but  which,  if 
neglected  by  the  (lovernment  and  left  to  the  present  system  of  no  law 
at  all,  or  what  is  far  worse,  lawlessness,  will  soon  end  in  disgrace  and 
disaster. 

Very  respectfully  submitted.  JOSEPH  .Mr KM: AY, 

Special  Af/cnf  for  the  Protection  of  Salmon    FixJteries  in  Alaska. 

Hon.  .JOHN  C.  CARLISLE, 
tiecrctan/  of  the  '/'/ 


.\  a inlicr  of  m:«lx  on  Hi.   I'atil  tntti  >'/.  (Ifortjf  ixlnnilx,  .ST</.S<>//  <>!'  7S!i.~. 
ST.   I'Al'L   ISLAM). 


li-.-l' 
J.a-M 
Tolst 


1,7125  (i!l.  Odd  '.I.  000 

:;r>n  11,0""  2,0011 

:;on  rj.  ooo  I.OHU 

L'du  H.  ooo  :tdd 

1  .OIK)  in.  oiiO  f).  Odd 

5o  'J.  OOo  50 

100  1  (i.  (M'd 


:    0 


•i,dOd 


MH 


l,00o  80,725 

200  Hi,  550 

200  13,500 

50  8,550 

500  -Hi,  500 

L'.  100 

250  1  (5.  fi50 

1 .  500 

loo  5, Odd 

:;oo         24.  :too 

2,000          215,  .'!75 


SKAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


373 


\nmher  of  seals  on  >7.  I'tnil  and  St.  George  islands,  season  of  1895—  Continued. 
ST.  <;KOK<;K  ISLAND. 


Rookery. 

Bulls  with 
harem  H. 

Cows. 

Bach- 
elors. 

Idle 
bulls. 

Total. 

Starrv  \rteel 

60 

2  400 

300 

„„ 

2  800 

North 

100 

4,  000 

500 

50 

4,650 

East 

80 

3  200 

3  000 

40 

6  320 

Little  East 

25 

1  000 

50 

20 

1  095 

Xapadnie                                                                      

110 

4,400 

3,  000 

50 

7,560 

Total 

375 

15,000 

6,850 

200 

22,425 

Total  on  both  islands 

5  000 

200  000 

30  000 

2  800 

237  800 

EXHIBIT  B. 

• 
Liquors  cleared  from  Puyet  Sound  for  Alaska,  January  1,  1894,  to  March  10,  1895. 


Date. 

Per- 
mit No. 

Kinds  and  quantities. 

Consignee. 

Name  of  vessel. 

Date  cleared. 

Jan.     6,  1894 

51 

1  barrel  bottled  beer  

A  dolph  My  er  

City  of  Topeka. 

Jan.   15,  1894 

Dec.   22  1893 

46 

1  barrel  rye  whisky  

do 

do 

Do 

Do  

46 

1  barrel  Bourbon  whis- 

C. F.  Fueher  

do 

Do. 

Do      

44 

ky,  10  barrels  beer. 
1A     barrels     (  'alif'ornia 

William  Nelson 

do 

Do. 

Dec.   21,1893 
Jan      5  1894 

41 
50 

brandy.     1£     barrels 
California    claret,    5 
barrels  beer,  3  barrels 
ale,  3  cases  porter,  10 
gallons  sherry,  10  gal- 
lons Irish  whisky,  10 
gallons  Scotch  whis- 
ky, 10  gallons  gin,  10 
gallons  rum.  1  case  im- 
ported brandy,  1  case 
imported   whisky,   2 
cases  champagne. 
1   gallon   port  wine,    1 
gallon  brandy. 
6  bottles  (  'hina'liquor 

C.  J.  Kostromehuofl' 

do  
do 

Do. 
Do 

Dec.     6,  1893 

Jan.     2,  1894 
Dec.    22,1893 
Do 

39 

49 
45 
47 

1  case  whisky.    1    case, 
wine,  1  case  porter. 
1  barrel  beer  
1  barrel  porter  

1  barrel  \vhiskv  libar- 

Duncan  McKimon  .  . 

W.C.  Mills  
Chae.Giffey  

Win  Mulcihv 

do  

do  
do  

do 

Do. 

Jan.   30,1894 
Do. 
Do 

Dec      6,  1893 

37 

rels   nun.   H   barrels 
brandy,  1  barrel  por- 
ter. 1  barrel  beer. 

30  gallons  claret  wine 

C  S  Johnson 

do 

Jan     15  1894 

Feb.      7,  1894 
Feb.     8,  1894 
Feb.     7,  1894 

Do  

Jan.    20,  1894 

57 
59 
58 

55 
53 

5  gallons  whisky  
•J  barrels  beer  
1  barrel  whisky.  5  bar- 
rels   beer,  2    barrels 
porter,  2  barrels  ale, 
G  cases  Irish  whisky, 
6casesllennes\-  bran- 
dy. 
1  barrel  whisky.  1  bar- 
rel brandy.  8  barrels 
beer,     1    case    cham- 
pagne, '_'  barrels  whis- 

1   barrel  gin,  5  gallons 

Smebv  Bros  
E.DeGroff  
W.  Mulcahy  

William  Nelson  
E.  De  Grott' 

...do  ... 
do  
do  

do  

do 

Feb.    17,1894 
Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do 

Jan.    16,1894 

52 

Jamaica    rum.  2   gal- 
lons   Madeira    wine, 
12  gallons    sherry 
wine.  :;u  gallons  clar- 
et.   1    case    1.  randy,   1 
case    champagne,     1 
barrel    ale,  1    barrel 
porter,  f>  gallons  port 
wine,  1  1)  gal  Ions  whis- 
ky. f>  cases  whisky. 
1  case  nine  

W.  P.  Mills  

Mexico    

Feb.   27,1894 

Jan.    22,  18«.»4 

54 

50  gallons  whisky,  20 

J.  C.  Kooshcr 

City  of  Topeka 

Mar    14  1894 

gallons     brandy.     L'O 
gallons  port  wine,  10 
gallons     alcohol,     50 
gallons  claret,  6  bar- 
rels beer,  2  cases  gin. 

374  SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

Liquors  cleared  from  Puyet  Sound  for  Ahtxka.  etc. — Continued. 


Ppr 

Date.          niitNo      Kinds  aml  quantities. 

Consignee.             Name  of  vessel.    Date  cleared. 

Feb.  23,1894            61 

Feb.  24.1894            63 
Mar.     9,1894             64 
Feb.  20,  1894            60 
Mar.     9,1894             67 
Do                       66 

2  barrels  bonvbou  whis- 
ky, 10  gallons  ruin,  2" 
gallons     brandy,     10 
gallons  port  wine. 
:*  barrels  bottled  beer.  .  . 

William  Nelson             Citvt 

f  Topeka..    Mar.  14,1894 
>  Mar.  29,1894 

E.DeGroif  d 

1  case  whisky 

II    F  Swift              .               do      --                      T)o 

\V  M   Tavlor                 Chilk 

:tt                           Ai»r       7    1>«U 

Do                        65 

1  case  ale,  I  case  porter. 
1  barrel  whisky.  I.1,  bar- 
rels  brand  v.'  3  cases 
Irish  whisky,  6  bar- 
rels beer. 
10    gallons    whisky.    1 
case    beer.    1    gallon 
brandy.  '1  rases  wine. 
15  gallons  port  wine  
3  gallons  whisky  
10  gallon*  alcohol  
5  gallons  alcohol  
•J  barrels  whisky,  1  bar- 
rel brandy  ,  2  cases  gin  , 
20  gallons  ruin.  f>e;iM's 
whiskv,  5  cases  bran- 
dy, 10  barrels  beer,  10 
cases  porter,  10  cases 
ale,    2    cases    cham- 
pagne, 1  barrel  port 
wine,  1  barrel  sherry, 
!  barrel  claret.  1  bar- 
rel alcohol. 

.1    M  Davis                             do                               Tlo 

Do          -             68 

W    Mnh-ahv      d 

i  Do. 

Feb.   23,1894            62 

Mar.     9,  1894            70 
Apr.     4,  1894             72 
Do                       71 

Robert  Duncan.  .ji-  -  .     ('ity< 
Father   Don^key  d 

t  Topeka..    Apr.  13,1894 
>  ..                .    Am-.  28.  1894 

Archv  Campbell  do  May   14,  1894 
C.  F.Peuher  do  'Do. 

May  19,1894            93 
Do                       96 

F.  D.  Xowell  Rosalie  May   29,  1394 
M  a  \    Hndleman                      do  Do. 

Do                       91 

Mrs.  Hammond  d 
F.Bach  d 
B.  De  Groff  Citvc 
R   E  Rogers                        'd 

>  Do. 
>  Do. 
f  Topeka..    June  12,  1894 
j                             Do 

Do                       92 

do  

3  barrels  beer  

June    4,1894          100 
t       Do                       99 

May    9.  1894            84 
June  13,  1894          105 
June  18,  1894          107 

June  28,  1894          108 
May  19,1894            94 
July    1,1894          116 

June  28,  1894           109 
June  18,  1894          113 
Aug.    3,1894           120 
July  18,1894          114 

Aug.    3,1894          119 

Aug.  13,  1894           123 
Aug.  13,  1894  i        124 
Sept.    6.1894  !        129 
Aug.  13,  1894           122 
Sept.    6,1894          128 
Oct.      4,  1894           139 
Sept.    6,1894           130 

Oct.     3,  1894          138 
Sept,  25,  1894          132 
Oct.    17,  1894  !        142 
Do                      145 

4  barrels  beer  
1  dozen  bottles  brandy 

E.  De  Grolf  (Jiice 
do      Cityc 

>  June  22,1894 
f  Topeka..    June  29,1894 
>                               Do. 

15  barrels  beer,  1  barrel 
sherry  wine,  1  barrel 
whisky.  5  cases  por- 
ter, 1  barrel  port  wine. 
5  cases  ale.   5  cases 
gin.    5    cases    claret 
wine. 
10  barrels  beer  

K.  DeGrotV  Queei 
('  Spnher  d 

i      July     8,  1894 

i  Do. 

20  barrels  beer,  1  barrel 
brandy,  1  barrel  port 
wine,  1  barrel  sherry, 
1  barrel  claret,  3  cases 
champagne.   5    cases 
porter,   5    cases    ale. 
5  cases  brandy. 
10  gallons  whisky  

Max  Endlemen  City 

K.De  Groff  Queei 
Karl  Koehler                       d 

•  f  Topeka      July   27,1894 

i  ..               .     Aug.    6,1894 
Do 

lO'barrels  beer  
1  case  whisky,  1    case 
wine,  1  case  porter. 
1  case  cognac,  10  cases 
port   wine.    10    cases 
sherry.  10  cases  whis- 
ky* 
1  case  ale,  1  case  porter. 

E.De  Groff  City  of  Topeka..  Aug.  13,1894 
D  McKinnon                        do                               Do 

E  De  Groff                     Queen                        \u<r  'M   1894 

J.Mont.  David  City  of  Topeka.1  Aug.  31.  1894 
E  De  Groff                            do       -J          Do. 

do                        d 

>  Sept,  19,  1894 

R  C  Rogers                   Mexi 

•ii                         Sent.  25.  1894 

10  barrels  whisky  

E  De  Groff                    .    --  <!<>    Do. 

do        Citv  r 

f  Topeka..    Oct.    11,1894 
•o  .  .            .  .    Oct.    25.  1894 

10  barrels  white  wine.  1 
barrel  claret. 

do                             Me-ci 

R  C  Rogers                   ...do  Do. 

Karl  Koehler                        d 

)                               Do. 

u  Do. 

Ed.  De  Grotf  d 

>  Nov.  10,  1894 

Sept.  25,1894           135 
Oct.    17,1894  1        144 
Do  144 
Dec.  19,1894           150 

1  case  whisky  
30  gallons  whisky  
10  gallons  ruin  
1  bottle  brandy,  1£  gal- 
lons whisky,  1  gallon 
port  wine. 

M  Healy                          .-  d 

Do. 

Ed,  D«  Groff  Chilcat  Nov.  21.1894 
do                                 Mexico        Nov.  26,  1894 

Dr.  C.  Theving  do  Do. 

SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

cleared  from-  rntjet  Hound  for  Alaska,  etc. — Continued. 


375 


Date. 


Nov.  16, 1894 


Per- 


I1|ir  Xo       Kinds  and  quantities. 


( 'onsignee 


Name  of  vessel.    Date  cleared. 


147 


11  dozen  Kiiiiiin-1.  U 
dozen  Benedictine,  1.' 
do/ en  absinth,  1A 
do/.en  tdraohwasser, 

1\  do/en   anisette,   1A 


K.  Ih'droll1 Mexico Dec.    28,  1894 


Dec.    19,1804 
j.u,       9  1395 

151 

157 

do/oen  niarascbino,  1  J, 
dozen    Chartreuse,    I 
case  gin.  1  case  cham- 
pagne.   1    barrel   por- 
ter. 1  barrel  ale. 
1  barrel  bottled  porter.. 

Win.  Mulcabv  
K   Detiroll' 

Chilcat  

Jan.      3,  1895 
Jan     V  1*95 

Do 

M-iv     4  1894 

157 

82 

12  bottles  China  liquor. 

Sing  Lee  

do  

Cliilkat 

Do. 

Jan     'J3  1895 

Jan.      -2.  ISM:. 
Do 

155 

162 

12  bottles  assorted  liq- 
uors. 
10  barrels  beer 

B.O.  Rogers  

I     DeGrolt" 

City  of  Topeka. 
do 

Do. 
Feb      7  1895 

Jan.    1H.1s-.tr, 
Jan      '•  1895 

159 
154 

6  do/.cii  bottles  porter.  . 
1  barrel  claret 

(     K.  Tibbits  
C  S.  J  ohnson  

do  
do  

Do. 
Do. 

Dec    1()  18'M 

102 

I  red  Hall 

to 

Do 

Ft'b.     I:'.,  IS!  l.l 

Do 

170 
1(59 

10  gallons  whisky  

1  .  DeGrotf  
do 

lo  

lo 

Feb.    24,1895 
Do 

.Ian     ''1    IS1).") 

1G1 

do 

to 

Do. 

Jan     10  1895 

160 

20  <ralhms  claret 

George  TV  vra°"e  

do  

Do. 

The  within  permits  are  si 
POI;T  TOWNSKNP,  WASH., 


ned  by  Benjamin  Moore,  collector  of  customs,  Sitka,  Alaska. 

ttrcl/  1,  7v'/5. 


EXHIBIT  C. 

Statistics  of  Alaska  salmon  pack,  season  of  1895. 


Name. 


Number  of  men 
employed. 


;   Number  of  salmon  taken. 


Location. 


Apparatus 
used. 


King.        Red.        Silver. 


Alaska  Packing  Co  ".  
Arctic  Packing  Co  

do  
....    do  

65 
61 

46 
48 

98 
95 

do  .... 
do 

8,'  823 
5  106 

:<56,  (522 
329  548 

.  10,100 
8  700 

Do                                     i 

47 

do 

1  047 

269  851 

Thin  Point  Packing  Co..| 

Thin  Point... 

28 

2u 

Seine  

23,  453 

Karluk  Packin"  Co 

Karluk 

si 

48 

14° 

do 

589  090 

Tanii'lefoot  P>av  Packing 

do  

31 

65 

do  .... 

172  049 

Co. 
Hume-  Packing  Co  

...do  ... 

84 

142 

.  .  do  .  . 

603  4'71 

Arctic  Packing  <  'o  j 

Alitak  

31 

is 

do.... 

174.568 

8,321 

Chigiiik  l.av  Packing  Co. 

Chignik  

89 

48 
31 

77 
110 

do  
Gill    nets 

25,  199 

324,  277 
683  319 

Pacific  Packing  Co  

Pyramid    Harbor   Pack- 
ing Co. 
Glacier  Packing  Co  
Alaska  Salmon  Packing 

Prince     Williams 
Sound. 
Pyramid  Harbor.. 

Fort  Wrangell  
Loriii"-  !  

95 
80 

41 
30 

39 
62 

71 
SO 

63 

77 

70 

and  seine. 
do  .... 

Gill  nets.. 

do  .... 
Seine 

4,319 
9,453 
3,294 

143,  100 
310,  759 

133,  509 
14  733 

142,  937 
7,028 

154,  183 
435  368 

and  Fur  Co. 
Point    Roberts     Packing- 

Koggiiing  

34 

10 

Gill  nets.. 

405 

143,  800 

Co. 

Fgashik  Fishing  Station. 

Egegak  Fishing  Station. 
Togiak  Fishing  Station 

Si'lina  liiver  
Togiak 

41) 

12 
12 

22 



dill    nets 
and  seine. 

dill  nets.. 
do 

65,  219 

54,  321 
1  800 



Total  



1,002 

881 

1,211 



62,  190 

4,646,215 

775,  887 

376 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


Statistics  of  Alaska  salmon  pack,  season  of  1895 — Continued. 


Xame. 

Cases. 

Bar- 
rels. 

Ligi 

Steam-             D( 
ers  cm- 
ployed.   Num- 
ber . 

:ers  and               y 

JiltS. 

™"<-  =&• 

ets. 
Value. 

Sail 
ton-       Value 
nage      of  tin 
em-        plate, 
ployed. 

Bristol  Bay  Cannin0'  Co  . 

33  434 

2           42 

$18  OUO           80 

$4  000 

1  355     $19  360 

Alaska  Packing  Co  
Arctic  Packing  Co 

34,  632 
33  631 



1            44 
1            43 

13.  000  \         84 
1°  500           83 

4,  200 
4   100 

1,  100       19,  100 
1  040       19  600 

Do      

22.  731 

1,045 

1            23 

15  000           42 

2  100 

900       13  200 

Thin  Point  Packing  Co 

395 

1             10 

6  000             4 

800 

255  ! 

Karluk  Packin«r  Co  

48,  379 

3           47 

30  000  j         15 

3,000 

Tanglefoot  Bay  Packin<r 

10  277 

2           28 

15  9oO           10 

2  000 

4  500       66  200 

Co. 

47  500 

2           48 

°1  000  \        15 

'.',   000 

Arctic  Packing  Co 

15,  331 

1  j         ''3 

1]   000             4 

'soo 

1  350         9  100 

Arctic  Fishing  Co  

30,  188 

366 

2  [         40 

18  200  !         80 

4,  OHO 

1,320  j     21,600 

Chi-mik  Bav  Packiu-  Co 

70  050 

2  '        24 

19  000           90 

4  500 

1  520  I     49  000 

Paclfio  Packing  Co  

21,453 
35  373 

65 

4           43 
1           31 

45.  000           75 
18  000           50 

3,  800 
9  700 

1,  340       13,  200 
1  132  '    21  000 

ing  Co. 
Glacier  Packing  Co  
Alaska   Salmon  Packing 
and  Fur  Co. 
Point   .Roberts    Packing 

27,  416 
32,  554 

3  142 

1  j        17 
1           11 

1           12 

14,  200            30 
Li.  101)             4 

(j  90o             7 

1,  500 
800 

1  400 

776       16,  200 
771        19,200 

234 

Co. 

TJgashik  Fishin°r  Station 

1  354 

13 

•>  500             6 

1  200 

555 

Egf"'ak  Fishing  Station 

1,048 

3 

600             3 

600 

126            

40 

9 

400             2 

400 

130 

*  

Total  

473,  949 

7.  455 

26         504 

278  900         684 

44,  900 

18.  404     279,  760 

Statistics  of  Alaska  salmon  pack,  season  of  1895 — Continued. 


Xame. 


Location. 


Barn-Is. 


C.E.Whitney  &  Co Nushagak 1,043 

Prosper  Fishing  and  Trading  Co Kvichak 2,300 

L.  A.  Pederson ;  Xaknek 14,253  300 

Bering  Sea  Packing  Co I  TJgashik 12,007  ! 

Norton,  Teller  &  Co ..do 220 

Lynde  &  Hough Shumagin  islands , 75 

Alaska  Improvement  Co ;  Karluk I      26.  000  ; 

C.D.Ladd Cooks  Inlet 350 

Pacific  Steam  Whaling  Co j  Prince  William  Sound j      25,037    

Peninusular  Fishing  Co u'opper  River 15,000    

Baranoft*  Packing  Co Haranotf  Island 14.  805    

North  Pacitic  Fishing  and  Trading  Co j  Klawak '      12,228  104 

Boston  Wishing  and  Trading  Co Yes  Bay U,  100 


Metlakahtla  Industrial  Co. . 

Miller&Co 

Cape  Fox  Packing  Co 
Various 


Meltakatta 

Cordova  Bay 

(Jape  Fox 

Southeastern  Alaska. 


12,  000 


Total 145.430 


1,800 
1,200 
2,000 


9,  392 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


377 


EXHIHIT   D. 

Salmon  packing  (stations  in  Alaska. 


Xo. 
1 

2 
3 

4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 

11 

12 
13 
14 

15 

16 

17 
18 

19 

20 
21 

22 

I 

25 
26 

27 

Locality. 

Name  of  company. 

Can-    Salt-    Her- 
nery.    ery-    ring. 

*    1 
Chilcat                                           ' 

Alaska  Packing  Association 

2 

Port  Althorp   - 

Ford  &  Stokes  "^  

1 

Killisnoo  

1 

Kcd  Fish  I'.av                                   | 

Baraiiott'  Packing  Co 

1 

Fort  Wraiigell            

Alaska  Packing  Association  

1 

Yes  Bay 

Boston  Fishiuir  and  Trading  Co 

1 

Lorin  & 

Alaska  Packin°r  Association  . 

] 

Port  Chester  

Metlakahtla  Industrial  Co  

1    

1 

Klu\vak 

North  Pacific  Packing  Co 

Cordovia  Bay  

Miller  &.  Co       

1 

Tolstoi  Bay  

do  

1 

Tort  Ellis 

Kniu  Island 

1 

(  'a  pe  Fox  

1 

Copper  lliver,  Delta  Peninsula 
EvaK  Village     .... 

Fish  and  Trading  Co 

I 

Pac.ilic  Steam  Whaling  Co 

1 

Cooks  Inlet,  Kussilo  lliver 

Alaska  Packing  Association  

1 

do 

1 

West  side  of  Cooks  Inlet  
Afognak  (not  in  operation)... 

C.  D.  Ladd  &  Co 

1 

2    1 

Karluk  River  

Alaska  Packing  Association 

2 

Alaska  Improvement  Co.  .  .  

1 

R.  D.  Hume  &  Co                          ' 

Alitak  Bay  ' 

Alaska  Packing  Association  (used  up) 

j 

I'-ak  Bay,  Eagle  Harbor  
Chignik  Bay..       .                       , 

Oliver  Smith  

I 

I 

Pirate  Cove",  Popoff  

McCollum  Tradiu"  Co 

i 

Thin  Point  

Alaska  Packin<r  Association 

j 

Ugashil  

i 

do  .. 

Alaska  Packing  Association 

1 

do  

Sullivan  River  'Packing  Co  

1 

.Naknik  River  .. 

J  ohusou  

Alaska  Packin<>'  Association                                        1 

1    

do 

1 

Knichak  liiver  • 

Alaska  Packiii"'  Association 

Xnshagak  

Prosper  Fish  and  Trading  Co 

1  ' 

Port  Alexander  

\Vhiteney  Co                                                                               1 

Total  

27 

14             1 

EXHIBIT  E. 

Sailing  distances  from  Cape  Fox  to  the  different  salmon  canneries  in  Alaska. 
[Figures  in  parentheses  are  map  numbers.] 


(13)  Cape    Fox    to    (10)   Cordovia 
Bay 

(13)  Cape  Fox  to  (8)  Port  Chester. 

(10)  Cordovia  Bay  to  (9)  Klawak.. 
(8)  Port    Chester    to  (11)   Tolstoi 

Bay 

(8)  Port  Chester  to  (7)  Loring 

(7)  Loring  to  (6)  Yes  Bay 

(11)  Tolstoi  Bay  to  (5)  Fort  Wran- 
tf«'ll 

(5)  Fort    Wrangell    to    (12)    Port 
Ellis 

(9)  Klawak  to  (4)  Red  Fish  Bay. .. 
(4)  Red  Fish  Bay  to  (2)  Port  Al- 
thorp   

(2)  Port  Althorp  to  (3)  Killisnoo.. 

(3)  Killisnoo  to  (1)  Chilcat  Inlet.. 
(1)  Chilcat  Inlet  to  (14)    Copper 

RiverDelta.. 


Miles. 

80 

50 

100 

60 
60 
25 

100 

100 
150 

150 
200 
200 

1,000 


Miles. 

(14)  Copper  River  Delta  to   (15) 
Eyak  village 50 

(15)  Eyak  village  to  (17)  Afognak.       500 

(17)  Afognak  to  (20)  Ugak   Bay, 
Eagle  Harbor "..         75 

(20)  Ugak  Bay  to  (19)  Alitak  Bay.       100 
(19)   Alitak    Bay  to    (18)    Karluk 

River 100 

(18)  Karluk  River  to  (21)  Chignik 

Bay 300 

(21)  Chignik   Bay  to   (22)   Pirate 
Cove 200 

(22)  Pirate  Cove  to  (23)  Thin  Point .       150 

(23)  Thin  Point  to  (24)  Ugashik. . .       500 

(25)  Naknik  River  to  (26)  Kvichak 
River 25 

(26)  Kvichak  River  to  (27)  Nusha- 

gak 100 


Total 4,375 


378 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 


EXHIBIT  F. 


Summary  of  salmon  pack,  1895. 

Columbia  River 617,  460 

Alaska 619, 379 

British  Columbia 512,  877 

Outside  rivers 290,  300 

Total 2,040,016 

Cases. 

Columbia  River 617,  460 

Alaska  (16  locations) 619,  379 

British.  Columbia: 

Fraser  River 347,  674 

Skeena  River 66,983 

Lowe  Inlet 8,500 

Nass  River 19, 000 

Rivers  Inlet 61,  720 

Alert  Bay 5,  500 

Clavoauot 3,  500 

-  512, 877 

Outside  rivers  and  bays: 

Nehalem  River 6.  300 

Sinslaw  River S.  552 

Coquille  River 9,  468 

Umpque  River 10,  300 

Tillamook  River 5.  000 

Alse.'i  Bay 5,  000 

Coos  Bay 10,  380 

Puget  Sound  (4  locations) 157,  000 

Grays  Harbor 18,  000 

Shoalwater  Bay 16,000 

Rogue  River 14,  000 

Sacramento  rivers 24,  000 

California  rivers 6,  300 

290, 300 

2, 040,  016 

EXHIBIT  G. 

Alaskan  and  Pacific  Coast  salmon  pack,  from  1866  to  1895,  both  inclusive. 


Year. 


Columbia 
River. 


1867  . . 

1868  .. 
1869.. 
1870... 

1871  . . 

1872  . . 

1873  . . 

1874  ... 

1875  . . 

1876  . . 

1877  . . 

1878  . . 

1879  . . 
1880... 
1881.. 

1882  . . 

1883  . . 
1884-- 
1885.. 
1886... 
1887... 
1888.. 
1889... 
1890.. 

1891  . . 

1892  . . 
1893.. 
1894.. 
1895  . . 


Outside 


4,000 
18,  000 
28,000 
100,  000 
150,  000 
200,000  j 
250,000 
250,000 
350,000  j 
375,000 
450,000  I 
460,000  I 
460,000  ! 
480,000  i 
630,  000  i 
551,000  ! 
541,  300  I 
629,400  ! 
656, 179  ! 
524.  530  i 
454,943  I 
373.800  I 
367,750 
325,  500  I 
433,500 
390,  183  | 
481,900  ! 
425,200  ! 
511,000  ! 
617,460  ! 


Alaska. 


Total. 


2,500    , 
3,000 
33,900  i 

46,300  ; 

66.500  ' 
61^000  i 
»8,200  ; 
229,  700 
249,300  | 
198,000 
122,800  ; 
100,250  ; 
170,400 
231,900 
212,000  i 
265,734  < 
102,123 
82,447  ! 
160,800 
209,  496 
214.  896  i 

290,300 ; 


9,847 
67, 387 
113,601 
57,  394 
61, 300 
175,  675 
255,  061 
243,  000 
138, 945 
106,  865 
163, 004 
201,  990 
135,  600 
414,400 
409,  464 
314, 813 
221,  797 
590,  229 
494,  470 
512, 877 


36,  000 
54,  000 
74,  850 
120,  700 
190,  200 
427, 372 
709,  347 
688,  332 
789,  294 
461, 482 
645,  545 
678, 501 
619, 379 


4,000 

18, 000 

28,  000 

100,  000 

150, 000 

200,  000 

250,  000 

250,000 

352,  500 

378,  000 

493,  747 

573,  687 

640, 101 

598,  394 

779,  500 

956,  375 

1.  045,  661 

1, 106,  400 

971.  924 

806,  495 

909, 047 

997,  890 

1, 142,  722 

1,  714,  981 

1, 633,  419 

1,  576,  737 

1.  325,  979 

i.  870,  470 

1,  898,  867 

2.  040,  016 


SEAL    LIFE    ON    THE    PRIHILOF    ISLANDS.  379 

EXHIBIT  H. 

A  BILL  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for  the  protection  of  the  salmon  fisheries  of 

Alaska." 

/:<•  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  act  approved  March  second,  eighteen  hundred  and 
eighty-nine,  entitled  ''An  act  to  provide  for  the  protection  of  the  salmon  fisheries  of 
Alaska."  is  hereby  amended  and  reenacted,  as  follows: 

SECTION  1.  Tluit  the  erection  of  dams,  barricades,  fish  wheels,  fences,  traps,  pound 
nets,  or  any  fixed  or  stationary  obstructions  in  any  part  of  the  rivers  or  streams  of 
Alaska,  or  to  tish  for  or  catch  salmon  or  salmon  trout,  in  any  manner  or  by  any  means, 
with  the  purpose  or  result  of  preventing  or  impeding  the  ascent  of  salmon  or  salmon 
trout  to  their  spawning  ground,  is  declared  to  be  unlawful,  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  remove  such  obstructions  and  to  estab- 
lish and  enforce  such  regulations  and  surveillance  as  may  be  necessary  to  insure  that 
this  prohibition  and  all  other  provisions  of  law  relating  to  the  salmon  fisheries  of 
Alaska  are  strictly  complied  with. 

SEC.  2.  That  it  shall  be  unlawful  to  tish,  catch,  or  kill  any  salmon  or  salmon  trout 
of  any  variety,  except  with  rod  or  spear,  above  the  tide  waters  of  any  of  the  creeks 
or  rivers  of  less  than  five  hundred  feet  wide  in  the  Territory  of  Alaska,  or  to  lay  or 
set  any  drift  net,  set  net,  or  seine  for  any  purpose,  across  the  tide  waters  of  any  river 
or  stream  for  a  distance  of  more  than  one-third  of  the  width  of  such  river,  stream, 
or  channel,  or  lay  or  set  any  seine  or  net  witbin  one  hundred  yards  of  any  other  net 
or  seine  which  is  being  laid  or  set  in  said  stream  or  channel,  or  to  take,  kill,  or  fish 
for  salmon  in  any  manner  or  by  any  means  in  any  of  the  waters  of  the  Territory  of 
Alaska,  either  in  the  streams  or  tide  waters,  from  noon  on  Saturday  of  each  week 
until  six  o'clock  post  meridian  of  the  Sunday  following,  or  to  fish  for,  or  catch,  or  kill  in 
any  manner,  or  by  any  appliances,  except  by  rod  or  spear,  any  salmon  or  salmon  trout 
in  any  stream  of  less  than  one  hundred  yards  in  width  in  the  said  Territory  of  Alaska 
between  the  hours  of  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the 
same  day  of  each  and  every  day  of  the  week. 

SK>  .  3.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may,  at  his  discretion,  set  aside  certain 
streams  as  spawning  grounds,  in  which  no  fishing  will  be  permitted;  and  when,  in 
his  judgment,  the  results  of  fishing  operations  on  any  stream  indicate  that  the 
number  of  salmon  taken  is  larger  than  the  capacity  of  the  stream  to  produce,  he  is 
authorized  to  establish  weekly  close  seasons,  to  limit  the  duration  of  the  fishing 
season,  or  to  prohibit  fishing  entirely  for  one  year  or  more,  so  as  to  permit  the 
salmon  to  increase. 

SEC.  4.  That  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  law  herein,  and  such  regulations  as  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  establish  in  pursuance  thereof,  he  is  authorized  and 
directed  to  appoint  one"  inspector  of  fisheries  at  a  salary  of  ten  dollars  per  day, 
and  two  assistant  inspectors  at  a  salary  of  eight  dollars  each  per  day,  and  he  will 
annually  submit  to  Congress  estimates  to  cover  the  salaries  and  actual  traveling 
expenses  of  the  officers  hereby  authorized  and  for  such  other  expenditures  as  may  be 
necessary  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  law  herein. 

SKC.  5.  That  any  person  violating  the  provisions  of  this  act,  or  the  regulations 
established  in  pursuance  thereof,  shall,  upon  conviction  thereof,  be  punished  by  a 
fine  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars,  or  imprisonment  at  hard  labor  for  a  term  of 
ninety  days,  or  both  such  tine  and  imprisonment,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court: 
And  provided  further,  That  in  case  of  the  violation  of  any  of  the  provisions  of  sec- 
tion one  of  this  act,  and  conviction  thereof,  a  further  fine  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  per  diem  will  be  imposed  for  each  day  that  the  obstruction  or  obstructions 
therein  are  maintained  after  notice  to  remove  the  same.  Said  notice  may  be  given 
by  any  Government  officer  or  private  citizen. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


APR    4  1S35 

r\r\         A   i  n  o  7 

F 

.       FFR    261937 

rK     4  1987 

,,-r-, 

-%-j^fV 

(  /KQr'V' 

H,yisc4ftV     6WW 

\ 

LIBRARY  USE 

APR  1  n  1957 

f\rr\  j.  j  I'-'** 

RtCD  LD 

APR  I  9  1957 

=       3£(ha/5rWW 

— 

j                 REC'D 

. 

!                    UIVY  31 

aSL 

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!                  r~^  r#-  *-»  •  ?~Tr>  IJ  1  1  irtPTT^ 

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REC  D?'LUiDb2ij 

0"^ 

NOV    9  1962 

LD  21-100m-8,'34 

U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


6001023^1 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


